Archive · 8 Sep 2026
India’s White-Collar Hiring Rises 14% in August, AI Leads
Companies in India hired more office workers in August than they did in the same month last year.
Overall white-collar hiring increased by 14 percent.
Jobs involving artificial intelligence and machine learning grew especially quickly.
Hiring also rose in areas such as autos, healthcare, retail and information security.
More jobs were available for both new graduates and experienced workers.
Hyderabad had the strongest hiring growth among the major cities listed.
Some smaller cities, including Bhubaneswar and Raipur, also grew strongly.
However, hospitality, travel and education hiring fell.
The report said the timing of the festive season may have affected the comparison.
India’s white-collar hiring increased 14% year-on-year in August, according to Naukri’s report.
AI and machine learning hiring rose 31%, while IT and information security roles increased 32%.
Auto, healthcare and retail recorded growth of 19%, 16% and 15%, respectively.
Fresher hiring grew 15%, with hiring also increasing across experienced professional groups.
Hyderabad led metro hiring growth at 23%, while hospitality, travel and education hiring declined.
- Who
- Indian employers and job seekers, as measured by Naukri’s hiring index; Hitesh Oberoi of Info Edge also commented on the figures.
- What
- White-collar hiring in India rose 14% year-on-year in August, with particularly strong growth in AI and machine learning roles.
- When
- August, compared with August of the previous year.
- Where
- Across India, with Hyderabad recording the strongest growth among the listed metros.
- Why
- Growth was led by demand for AI, machine learning and other specialized talent, while the festive season’s shift from August last year to September this year affected the comparison.
- Overall hiring growth
- 14% year-on-year in August
- Naukri JobSpeak Index
- 3,028 in August, compared with 2,664 in August last year
- AI and machine learning hiring
- Up 31% overall; AI/ML hiring within the IT sector rose 22%
- Strongest listed sector
- Auto, up 19%
- Fresher hiring
- Up 15%
- Leading metro
- Hyderabad, up 23%
- Declining sectors
- Hospitality/travel fell 4%, while education fell 8%