White-collar hiring activity in India increased by 10% year-on-year in October 2024, according to the latest Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The Index reached 2,733 points in October 2024. 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.

AI/ML roles recorded 39% year-on-year and 2% month-on-month growth.

Key sectors with growth include oil & gas (+18%), pharma/biotech (+12%), FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) (+8%), and IT (+6%) emerged as primary drivers of this positive trend.

Southern states demonstrated exceptional growth in white-collar hiring, with multiple cities showing strong year-on-year gains.

Among metro cities, Pune saw the biggest increase at 20%. Among emerging cities, Bhubanesaw saw an increase of 45%.

Tamil Nadu emerged as a standout performer with a 24% year-on-year growth. Hyderabad and Chennai were amongst the top cities that led hiring for the Research & Analytics industry, showing massive growth of 51% and 50%, respectively. Cochin led the chart for the BFSI industry, registering a 40% year-on-year growth.

There was a 6% increase in job opportunities for professionals with experience of 0-3 years compared to October 2023. Professionals with 4-7 years of experience also saw a 6% gain, while those with 8-12 years of experience saw a 15% increase.

For senior professionals, the Index saw a 15% increase for professionals with 13-16 years and a 23% growth in hiring for professionals with 16+ years of experience in October 2024 when compared to October 2023.

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.