Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 03: India’s white-collar hiring rises just 2% in September, Naukri data shows. AI/ML jobs hit record growth of 20%. Sectors and cities, however, moved in sharply different directions.
India’s professional job market grew slowly in September. Beneath that calm surface, demand moved at very different speeds. Hiring for artificial intelligence and machine learning roles raced ahead. Several established sectors slipped back.
Overall white-collar hiring rose a modest 2% year-on-year, according to Naukri’s JobSpeak report. That headline number, however, tells only part of the story.
AI Pulls Away
AI/ML roles recorded 20% growth, which the report described as record growth. That is ten times the pace of overall hiring. Put simply, demand for AI talent grew far faster than the wider market. The figure is a growth rate, not AI’s share of total hiring.
Recruitment strength was not limited to AI. The auto sector posted 11% growth. BPO/ITES and Global Capability Centre (GCC) hiring rose 4% each. Those gains were moderate but steady.
Traditional Sectors Lose Momentum
Elsewhere, the picture was weaker. IT/Software Services hiring fell 4%. Pharma/Biotech and FMCG also declined 4% each. Healthcare hiring slipped 3%. These declines offset gains elsewhere, holding the headline figure near 2%.
Not every established sector lost ground. Insurance, retail, banking and financial services, and real estate stayed largely stable. The weakness was concentrated, not universal.
Technology Hiring Splits
The sharpest contrast sits within technology itself. AI/ML hiring rose 20%, while IT/Software Services fell 4%. Demand for specialised AI skills and broader software roles moved apart. The report does not say why. Nor does it suggest that AI is replacing software workers.
Hyderabad Leads the Metros
Geography added another layer of divergence. Hyderabad led the major cities with 9% growth. Chennai followed at 6%, while Bengaluru and Kolkata rose 4% each. Each of these four cities beat the overall 2% growth rate. Pune remained broadly stable.
Mumbai and Delhi-NCR Retreat
Two of India’s largest job markets moved the other way. Hiring in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR each fell 6%. The gap between Hyderabad and Mumbai was 15 percentage points. Their declines help explain why the national figure stayed modest. The report offers no reasons for the fall. Emerging cities, meanwhile, saw largely flat hiring growth.
What the Index Measures
The Naukri JobSpeak Index stood at 3,053, against 3,002 a year earlier. It is published monthly by Naukri.com, Info Edge’s flagship brand. The index tracks new job postings, including free listings, and recruiter searches. It reflects hiring activity on the platform, not total employment in India. A fall in postings is not the same as job losses.
Specialisation Shapes Demand
September’s 2% headline hides a far more uneven market. Specialised AI skills, the auto sector and Hyderabad pulled ahead. Software services, several consumer and health sectors, and two big metros fell back. For employers and job seekers alike, the mix now says more than the total.
