October Sees a 9% Drop in White-Collar Hiring Amid Festive Season

In October, India's white-collar hiring activity saw a 9% decline year-on-year, influenced by the Diwali-Dussehra festive holidays. While many sectors faced slowdowns, areas like Accounting, Education, and BPO showed positive growth. The demand for AI and Machine Learning professionals surged, highlighting the ongoing need for specialized skills. Despite challenges in IT and banking, certain roles experienced significant increases in hiring, indicating a complex job market landscape. Read on for detailed insights from the Naukri JobSpeak Index report.

By Narendra Chaudhary Nov 3, 2025, 16:52 IST

Hiring Trends in October

Mumbai: A recent report indicates that white-collar hiring in India experienced a 9% decline in October compared to the previous year, primarily due to the impact of the Diwali-Dussehra festive holidays on recruitment activities.

According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, which tracks job market trends based on new job postings and recruiter searches on Naukri.com, the festive season contributed to a general slowdown in hiring.

Despite this overall decline, certain sectors such as Accounting and Finance (15%), Education (13%), and BPO/ITES (6%) showed positive growth, bucking the trend.

The education sector's growth was largely driven by hiring fresh graduates and startups, with significant contributions from cities like Hyderabad (47%), Chennai (34%), and Bengaluru (31%).

Additionally, the demand for professionals in AI and Machine Learning roles surged, with a remarkable 33% year-on-year increase in hiring.

Conversely, sectors like IT (15%) and banking (24%) faced a downturn in hiring activities during this period.

The IT sector's data revealed that the emerging technologies sub-sector, which includes blockchain and cryptocurrency firms, saw a substantial 60% growth year-on-year, indicating ongoing investment in advanced skills.

Moreover, hiring within IT unicorns remained stable, showing more resilience compared to foreign MNCs (14%) and global capability centers (15%).

The report highlighted a growing demand for specialized and high-skill talent, with several niche roles experiencing significant growth.

Machine Learning Engineers led this trend with an impressive 139% increase in demand, emphasizing the importance of AI expertise across various industries.

Other specialized roles that saw notable demand increases included search engineers (62%), medical billers/coders (41%), transition managers (35%), and manufacturing engineers (32%).

Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri, noted, "The slowdown in hiring during October was anticipated due to the concentration of major festive holidays. It's promising to see the Education and BPO sectors maintain their growth, along with the sustained demand for specialized, high-skill roles."