White-collar hiring rises 14% in August as non-IT sectors drive growth

India's white-collar job hiring experienced a 14% year-on-year increase in August, according to a report by Naukri.com. The Naukri JobSpeak Index climbed from 2,664 to 3,028 compared to the same month last year. This growth occurred across both IT and non-IT sectors, as well as various experience levels. However, the report emphasizes that hiring trends should be analyzed within the context of the festive calendar, as more of the holiday period was in August last year and moved to September this year.

The CEO of Info Edge (India) Ltd, Hitesh Oberoi, stated that a clearer picture of the underlying hiring trend would emerge as the festive quarter progresses.

The auto sector led hiring growth at 19%, followed by healthcare (16%), retail (15%), insurance (12%), IT (11%), banking (10%), and FMCG (10%). BPO/ITES, oil and gas, and real estate saw 8% growth each. Pharma/Biotech remained unchanged, while hospitality and travel experienced a 4% decline, and education saw an 8% drop. Hiring across all experience levels remained positive, with fresher recruitment up 15% year-over-year (YoY), and mid-to-senior experience bands also showing strong growth.

Hyderabad led hiring growth in metros at 23% YoY, followed by Kolkata (22%), Chennai (20%), Bengaluru and Pune (14%), Delhi NCR (10%), and Mumbai (7%). Emerging cities such as Bhubaneswar (32%), Raipur (23%), Surat (21%), and Ranchi (19%) also demonstrated strong hiring growth.