White-collar hiring up 3 pc in Aug; non-IT, AI-ML roles drive growth

India’s white-collar job market experienced a modest 3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in hiring in August 2025, primarily driven by robust hiring in non-IT sectors and a surge in demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) roles, according to the latest Naukri JobSpeak report.

White-collar jobs typically refer to professional, managerial, or administrative roles, often requiring specialised skills and higher education.

The insurance sector led the growth with a 24 per cent increase in hiring, followed by hospitality (+22 per cent) and real estate (+18 per cent). Other sectors showing positive growth included BPO/ITES (+17 per cent), education (+16 per cent), oil & gas power (+7 per cent), retail (+3 per cent), and FMCG (+2 per cent).

AI/ML roles witnessed a 54 per cent surge in hiring, indicating a strong demand for specialised talent in emerging technologies.

In contrast, the IT/software services sector saw a 6 per cent decline in overall hiring. However, IT unicorns bucked this trend, recording a 10 per cent growth in hiring.

Banking & financial services experienced an 11 per cent decline, while telecom/ISP saw a 13 per cent drop. The auto sector also registered a 3 per cent decrease. Fresher hiring (0-3 years experience) grew 7 per cent, largely propelled by non-IT sectors such as hospitality, real estate, and education. Hyderabad emerged as the top metro city for hiring, witnessing a 10 per cent overall growth and a significant 45 per cent surge in unicorn recruitment.

“In August, two trends stand out. One being that non-IT sectors continue to anchor job-market growth, a pattern visible over recent months. The other, interestingly, is Hyderabad’s emergence as a hotbed of startup hiring, making it the leading metro in terms of overall job growth,” Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri, said. PTI