- By Aditya Pratap Singh
- Tue, 08 Sep 2026 02:57 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
- India's white-collar hiring grew 14% year-on-year in August.
- The auto, healthcare, and retail sectors led job growth across cities.
- Hiring positively across all experience levels, from freshers to seniors.
The hiring activities are gaining pace in India ahead of the festive season, which has kicked off with Rakshabandhan and will continue till almost the end of this year, covering festivities like Dussehra, Diwali and others. Earlier, reports were suggesting massive job opportunities in gig sectors in the coming months this year; now a report claimed that India's white-collar hiring registered a 14 per cent year-on-year growth in August.
According to a report by Naukri.com on September 8, Info Edge's flagship brand, the uptick in hiring was driven by sectors including auto, healthcare and retail.
Which Sector Recorded Highest Hiring In August 2026
According to the report, the auto sector recorded strong hiring growth at 19 per cent, followed by healthcare at 16 per cent and retail at 15 per cent.
Among other key sectors, insurance grew at 12 per cent YOY, followed by IT at 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, hiring in banking and FMCG grew at 10 per cent each, and BPO/ITES, oil and gas and real estate’s hiring growth remained at 8 per cent each.
Hiring activity in Pharma/Biotech remained flat.
On the other hand, the hospitality and travel sectors witnessed a 4 per cent decline in hiring. Hiring in the education sector declined 8 per cent as well, the report noted.
Which cities drive hiring growth
Metros | |
|---|---|
City | Hiring Growth (%) |
Hyderabad | 23% |
Kolkata | 22% |
Chennai | 20% |
Bengaluru | 14% |
Pune | 14% |
Delhi NCR | 10% |
Mumbai | 7% |
Emerging Cities | |
City | Hiring Growth (%) |
Bhubaneswar | 32% |
Raipur | 23% |
Surat | 21% |
Ranchi | 19% |
The overall Naukri JobSpeak Index touched 3,028 compared to 2,664 in August last year, according to August saw hiring growth across both IT and non-IT sectors and across experience levels. However, the hiring growth needs to be viewed in the context of the festive calendar, with a larger part of the festive period falling in August last year and shifting to September this year.
Freshers To Experienced: Opportunity For All
The report revealed that hiring remained positive at all experience levels. Fresher recruitment soared 15 per cent YoY, while hiring for employees with 4-7 years of experience rose 10 per cent.
It said there was also good growth in the mid to senior experience band, up 16 per cent for 8-12 years, 18 per cent for 13-16 years and 13 per cent for over 16 years.
"We will have a clearer view of the underlying hiring trend as we move through the festive quarter," Info Edge (India) Ltd MD and CEO Hitesh Oberoi said.
The Naukri JobSpeak Report is a monthly index that tracks trends in the job market and recruitment activity in India, based on new job postings (including free job listings) and recruiter searches on Naukri.com's platform.
(With Inputs From PTI)