India’s white-collar hiring market ended August on a strong note, registering a 14 per cent year-on-year growth driven by auto, healthcare and retail, according to Naukri.com’s monthly JobSpeak Index.
The index, a key barometer of hiring activity tracked through job postings and recruiter searches on the platform, rose to 3,028 in August 2026 from 2,664 a year ago. The growth was broad-based, cutting across IT and non-IT sectors and spanning all experience levels.
Auto emerged as the top performer with 19 per cent growth, followed by healthcare at 16 per cent and retail at 15 per cent. Insurance posted a 12 per cent rise, while IT grew 11 per cent, banking and FMCG 10 per cent each, and BPO/ITES, oil & gas and real estate 8 per cent each. Pharma and biotech remained flat, while hospitality and travel saw a 4 per cent decline and education dropped 8 per cent.
The momentum was visible across experience bands. Fresher hiring rose 15 per cent, while hiring for 4-7 years of experience grew 10 per cent. Mid-to-senior levels saw even stronger traction, with 8-12 years up 16 per cent, 13-16 years up 18 per cent and over 16 years up 13 per cent, indicating renewed confidence in leadership hiring.
Hitesh Oberoi, MD & CEO, Info Edge noted that the trend should be read in context of the festive calendar, as a larger part of the festive period fell in August last year compared to September this year, and said a clearer picture will emerge in the festive quarter.
