The recent foundit Insights Tracker (fit) reveals that India’s festive hiring market is expanding despite an overall cautious job environment. Festive hiring grew 7 per cent year-on-year to 1,27,080 jobs in 2026, even as overall white-collar hiring moderated 11 per cent YoY in September.
Quick Commerce saw 18 per cent more hiring, followed by e-commerce with 12 per cent more hiring and logistics & transportation witnessing a hiring increase of 10 per cent. Travel and hospitality (+6%), media & entertainment (+5%) and retail (+4%) also recorded growth.
The demand is spreading beyond the metros, with Tier 2 and emerging cities growing significantly faster, while early-career professionals remain at the centre of festive hiring.
Over the lasts three years, festive hiring has continued to expand, rising from 98,120 jobs in 2024 to 1,18,750 in 2025 and 1,27,080 in 2026. After growing 21 per cent in 2025, festive hiring has increased another seven per cent in 2026, even as the wider white-collar market remains below last year’s levels.
White-collar gig/freelance hiring grew 15 per cent YoY, indicating greater use of flexible talent as businesses respond to seasonal spikes in demand.
As per Tarun Sinha, CEO, foundit, “Strong demand for early-career talent shows that businesses are prioritising agile, digitally ready workforces that can scale with demand”.
While metros continue to account for 56 per cent of festive white-collar opportunities, they recorded only 3 per cent YoY growth. In comparison, Tier 2 cities account for 27 per cent of festive jobs and grew 11 per cent YoY, while Tier 3 and emerging cities account for 17 per cent and recorded the fastest growth at 15 per cent.
The trend reflects the expansion of retail, e-commerce and distribution networks into regional markets. Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Surat, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Chandigarh and Kochi are among the cities seeing increased demand during the 2026
This expansion is also shaping the roles employers need. Operations & Fulfilment accounts for the largest share of festive jobs at 23 per cent, followed by sales & business development (20 per cent), customer service & experience (14per cent) and supply chain & logistics (12per cent).
Operations & fulfilment also recorded the strongest functional growth at 14 per cent YoY, followed by sales & business development (+9 per cent) and marketing & communications (+7 per cent). Supply chain & logistics and IT & digital both grew 5 per cent.
Festive white-collar hiring remains distinctly early-career led. Professionals with 0–3 years of experience account for 43 per cent of festive jobs, while those with 4–6 years account for another 27 per cent, taking the combined share of talent with up to six years of experience to 70 per cent.
Demand is also growing fastest at the younger end of the workforce. Hiring for professionals with 0–3 years of experience grew 12 per cent YoY, followed by 8 per cent for the 4–6 year cohort and two per cent for professionals with 7–10 years of experience.
At senior levels, the trend reverses, with festive hiring declining 5 per cent for professionals with 11–15 years of experience and 7 per cent for those with more than 15 years.
India’s white-collar hiring market showed slight improvement in September. Hiring rose 2 per cent compared to August and 7 per cent over the past three months, though it was still 11 per cent lower than last year.
Industry trends: Travel & tourism led annual growth with a 29 per cent rise, followed by healthcare & pharmaceuticals (15 per cent), real estate (10 per cent), construction & engineering (10 per cent) and automotive (9 per cent). On a monthly basis, travel & tourism grew 6 per cent, healthcare & pharmaceuticals 4 per cent, while construction & engineering and manufacturing each rose three per cent.
Occupations: Medical roles and marketing & communications posted the strongest annual growth at 17 per cent each. Engineering & Production and Legal roles grew 7 per cent. However, senior management (-18 per cent) and HR & admin (-19 per cent) continued to decline.
Experience levels: Professionals with 7–10 years of experience were the only group to see annual growth (4 per cent). Hiring for 11–15 years remained nearly flat (-1 per cent), while demand fell for entry-level (0–3 years, -11 per cent), mid-level (4–6 years, -14 per cent) and senior (15+ years, -9 per cent) talent.
Cities: Bengaluru was the only city to show positive annual growth (1 per cent). Hyderabad (-0.5 per cent) and Delhi-NCR (-1 per cent) stayed stable, while Mumbai (-2 per cent), Chennai (-4 per cent) and Pune (-8 per cent) saw declines.