White-collar hiring activity in India grew by 2% year-on-year in November 2024, according to the latest Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The Index came in at 2,430 points, down from 2,733 the month before and up from 2,382 the year before.

By industry, AI and Machine Learning saw 20% growth in November 2024 compared to November 2023. Banking/financial services saw a 14% decline in the same period.

Standout performers in November included oil & gas (14%), FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods (6%) and GCCs (4%) (global capability centres), highlighting the continued dynamism in specialised domains.

Meanwhile, non-IT sectors emerged as fresher hiring hotspots, with sectors like architecture/interior designing (29%), facility management (27%), KPO/research/analytics (28%) and steel (37%) witnessing substantial year-on-year growth in fresher hiring.

Across cities, cities in the state of Rajasthan sustained remarkable resilience. Jaipur (14%), Udaipur (24%) and Kota (15%) emerged as notable bright spots, wherein Jaipur saw a 20% year-on-year growth in hiring by Foreign MNCs (multi-national corporations). Towards the eastern end, Bhubaneswar impressed with a 21% year-on-year increase.

By experience level, there was no change in job opportunities for professionals with experience of 0-3 years compared to November 2023. For those with 4-7 years of experience, there was a 2% fall. For professionals with 8-12 years of experience, the Index reported an increase of 6%. There was a 9% increase for professionals with 13-16 years, while there was a 14% growth in hiring for professionals with 16+ years of experience in November 2024 compared to November 2023.

Naukri also posted a consolidated view of October and November together (comprising the festive period), which shows a resilient job market, posting 6% year-on-year growth during the festive season, majorly driven by growth in key non-IT sectors.

The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly Index representing the state of the Indian job market & hiring activity based on new job listings and job-related searches by recruiters on the resume database of Naukri.com. The JobSpeak Index captures hiring activity across multiple dimensions, including industries, cities, functional areas, and experience bands.

July 2008 is the base month with an index value of 1,000, and the subsequent monthly index values are compared with the data for July 2008.