Archive · 3 Oct 2026
AI Skills and Experienced Professionals Drive Selective September Hiring
In September, companies in India posted slightly more white-collar jobs than they did a year earlier.
The biggest increase was in jobs involving artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Car-related businesses also hired more people.
Companies showed stronger demand for experienced workers than for new graduates.
Hiring for freshers rose only a little, while jobs for people with four to seven years of experience dipped.
Some industries, including education and travel, had fewer job openings.
Hyderabad had the strongest growth among the listed big cities, but hiring fell in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.
A report cited in the article said AI-related jobs in India outnumbered job losses linked to AI, though its effects were not evenly shared.
India’s overall white-collar hiring grew 2% year-on-year in September, and the Naukri JobSpeak Index reached 3,053, up from 3,002 a year earlier.
AI and machine-learning hiring rose 20%, while auto-sector hiring grew 11%.
Hiring increased 5% to 7% across experience groups with at least eight years of experience; fresher hiring rose 1%, and hiring for professionals with 4–7 years’ experience fell 2%.
Hiring declined in several sectors, including education, down 18%, hospitality and travel, down 11%, and IT and software services, pharma and biotech, and FMCG, each down 4%.
Hyderabad led metro hiring growth at 9%; Delhi-NCR and Mumbai each declined 6%, while emerging-city hiring was largely flat.
- Who
- Indian white-collar employers, as reflected in Naukri.com’s September hiring report.
- What
- White-collar hiring grew 2% year-on-year, led by AI and machine-learning roles and stronger demand for experienced professionals.
- When
- September; the article does not specify the year.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- The report’s CEO said hiring was shifting toward specialised skills, particularly AI, and experienced professionals, reflecting specific business and capability needs.
AI’s employment gains
Uneven effects on workers
AI and jobs
AI’s employment gains
A Nomura report cited in the article said AI was generating more jobs than it was eliminating in India, with around 131,000 AI-related jobs announced versus about 61,000 AI-linked job losses.
Uneven effects on workers
The same report said the benefits were not evenly distributed and that the biggest impact was being felt at entry level, where companies were cutting back on fresher recruitment.
- Overall white-collar hiring
- Up 2% year-on-year in September.
- Naukri JobSpeak Index
- 3,053 in September, compared with 3,002 in the year-ago month.
- AI and machine-learning hiring
- Up 20% year-on-year.
- Auto-sector hiring
- Up 11% year-on-year.
- Fresher hiring
- Up 1% year-on-year.
- Experienced professionals
- Hiring rose 5% for those with 8–12 years’ experience, 7% for 13–16 years, and 5% for over 16 years.
- Metro hiring
- Hyderabad grew 9%; Chennai 6%; Bengaluru and Kolkata 4% each; Delhi-NCR and Mumbai declined 6% each.
- AI-related jobs and losses
- A Nomura report cited in the article said companies had announced around 131,000 AI-related jobs, compared with about 61,000 job losses linked to AI.