White Collar Hiring on the Rise Amidst Robust Sector Growth

White collar hiring is improving across key sectors like Oil and Gas, Banking, and FMCG. While overall hiring increased by 6% in May, it remains 2% lower than last year. Smaller cities outperformed major metropolitan areas in job growth, highlighting expanding opportunities for experienced professionals and the growing economic vibrancy in non-metro regions.

White collar hiring is witnessing a steady upswing, driven by major sectors such as Oil and Gas, Banking, and FMCG, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The report highlighted a 6% increase in hiring activity in May compared to April, bolstered by growth in sectors like Healthcare and Travel and Hospitality. However, it also noted a 2% decline compared to the same month last year.

Despite mid-single-digit growths in most sectors, the overall Naukri JobSpeak Index was dragged down by declines in IT, BPO, and Education hiring, which saw year-on-year declines of 0%, 3%, and 5%, respectively.

Noteworthy growth was seen in major sectors, with Oil and Gas growing by 14%, Banking by 12%, and FMCG by 17%. Healthcare and Travel and Hospitality sectors each registered an 8% growth.

Smaller cities outperformed major metropolitan areas, with a significant demand for senior professionals contributing to a healthy year-on-year growth in opportunities. Mini-metros showcased robust hiring trends, outpacing major metros in job growth.

“The consistent job growth in the AI-ML domain stands out as a major positive,” said Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri.com. “It signals that the Indian economy and its talent pool are well aligned with the global trends on AI.”

The Naukri JobSpeak Index, which represents the state of the Indian job market, revealed that non-metro cities like Surat and Raipur emerged as hiring hotspots, while metro cities like Delhi-NCR, Chennai, and Hyderabad saw stable hiring trends. Notably, Pune showed slight improvement.

The report further highlighted a 23% surge in demand for experienced professionals, contrasting with a relatively flat job market for freshers. This underscores the challenges early-career professionals face in securing entry-level positions amid evolving skill requirements.