India white collar hiring grows 2 per cent in September 2026

MUMBAI: India’s jobs market kept its foot on the accelerator, but not quite enough to change gears. White-collar hiring grew 2 per cent year on year in September 2026, according to the latest Naukri Jobspeak report, with the headline number masking a much more uneven story underneath.

The month brought a clear split between sectors that continued to add jobs and those that found the hiring engine running slower. Automotive emerged as one of the strongest performers, while AI/ML continued to punch above its weight even as broader IT and software recruitment contracted.

The automotive sector recorded 11 per cent YoY growth in hiring in September, putting it among the better-performing industries during the month. Much of that momentum came from southern India, where Hyderabad led with 26 per cent growth, followed by Chennai at 19 per cent and Bengaluru at 18 per cent.

The wider technology hiring picture, meanwhile, was more nuanced. IT/software hiring declined 4 per cent YoY, but specialised AI/ML roles moved in the opposite direction, rising 20 per cent, underlining how demand is increasingly concentrating around specific technology skills rather than the broader IT talent pool.

BPO/ITES and Global Capability Centre (GCC) hiring each grew 4 per cent during September, while insurance and retailing posted marginal 1 per cent growth apiece. Banking and financial services remained flat, as did real estate, leaving both sectors unchanged from the year-ago period.

At the other end of the hiring spectrum, education saw an 18 per cent decline, followed by telecom at 12 per cent and hospitality at 11 per cent. IT/software and healthcare fell 4 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, while pharma/biotech and FMCG each declined 4 per cent and oil & gas slipped 1 per cent.

AI/ML was therefore one of the clearest bright spots in an otherwise measured month. Its 20 per cent growth suggests that employers continue to seek specialised technology capabilities even when overall technology recruitment is under pressure.

That divergence is particularly telling. The jobs market is not simply adding or cutting technology roles across the board; instead, demand appears to be shifting towards skills linked to newer technology requirements, with AI/ML standing apart from the wider IT/software trend.

The picture among freshers was steadier but hardly uniform. Hiring of entry-level talent grew 1 per cent YoY in September, although the momentum varied sharply between sectors, with banking and financial services and oil & gas recording double-digit growth in fresher hiring.

Smaller cities also had a role to play in the early-career hiring story. Coimbatore emerged as a fresher hiring hotspot with 20 per cent growth, while Vadodara recorded 13 per cent growth, suggesting that opportunities for young professionals are not being concentrated entirely in the traditional metropolitan employment hubs.

Experienced professionals, meanwhile, found the hiring tide moving somewhat more favourably. Recruitment of candidates with more than 16 years of experience grew 5 per cent YoY in September, outpacing the overall white-collar market.

Automotive and BPO/ITES were among the sectors showing strong demand for this senior experience cohort. That points to a market where employers are continuing to seek seasoned professionals for specific business needs even while keeping overall hiring growth relatively measured.

GCCs were another important part of the September employment picture, particularly across southern India. Hyderabad recorded 23 per cent YoY growth in GCC hiring, while Chennai followed with 13 per cent, reinforcing the region’s growing role in the expansion of global business operations.

The BPO/ITES segment added another striking number to the GCC story, with hiring in global capability centres rising 59 per cent. The sharp increase highlights how GCC expansion is extending beyond conventional technology roles into technology-enabled and business-service functions.

Taken together, the September figures point to a jobs market that is growing, but with plenty of fine print. A 2 per cent overall increase may look modest, yet beneath it are pockets of double-digit growth spanning automotive, AI/ML, GCCs and selected cities, alongside sizeable contractions in education, telecom and hospitality.

For jobseekers, the data also suggests that the hiring story is becoming increasingly skills- and experience-specific. Freshers saw just 1 per cent growth overall, senior professionals recorded 5 per cent growth, and AI/ML hiring surged 20 per cent, showing that the market is rewarding certain capabilities even as the broader white-collar pool remains relatively steady.