New Delhi, May 1: White-collar hiring in India witnessed a healthy start to FY 2025-26, registering a 9 per cent year-on-year growth, according to a report on Thursday.

The report by job portal Naukri showed the growth was driven by several sectors, with pharma (+14 per cent), real estate (+11 per cent), GCCs (+10 per cent) and oil and gas (+9 per cent) emerging as primary contributors to the hiring momentum.

The IT/Software Services sector witnessed +3 per cent hiring growth in April. Demand was particularly robust for specialised roles, with the hiring of full stack data scientists (+30 per cent), Big Data testing engineers (+26 per cent), and data platform specialists (+28 per cent) seeing strong traction.

Hiring activity among unicorns (+15 per cent) outpaced that of foreign MNCs, underscoring sustained demand across emerging, digital-first enterprises.

The growth in pharma/biotech was led by strong demand for Life Sciences (+20 per cent) and research and development (+16 per cent) professionals. Bengaluru, Chennai, and Pune emerged as key talent hubs, the report said.

The Oil and Gas sector growth reversed the decline observed in March and was supported by heightened hiring across procurement and supply chain (+25 per cent) and sales and business development (+12 per cent) roles.

"After a few soft months that saw mid-single digit growth, it is encouraging to see double-digit growths in several core sectors this year,” said Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com.

Further, the report showed that hiring for fresh graduates rose +6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in April, with opportunities emerging in sectors such as FMCG (+16 per cent), media and entertainment (+15 per cent), oil and gas (+23 per cent), and beauty and wellness (+26 per cent).

The data highlights a gradual diversification of entry-level hiring avenues beyond the traditional IT and BFSI sectors. Notably, fresher hiring in the 13-20 LPA salary bracket witnessed an exceptional +22 per cent YoY increase, the highest across all experience cohorts, the report said.

“Strong demand for premium talent and growth in fresher hiring across core non-IT sectors, are two noteworthy trends,” Goyal said.

(IANS)

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