NEW DELHI: White-collar employment in India remained stable in May 2026, with the insurance sector continuing to lead the way with year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of over 19 per cent, followed by BPO/ITES at over 9 per cent, a report said on Tuesday.
Other top growth sectors include healthcare at over 6% and hospitality at over 5%, according to a report by job portal site Naukri. The company’s Naukri Jobspeak index reached 2836 in May 2026, marginally higher than the mark of 2807 recorded in the same month last year.
Among major cities, Hyderabad continued to see employment growth increase by more than 6% year-on-year, emerging cities such as Coimbatore by more than 8%, and Surat by more than 9%. New hires and AI or machine learning (ML) roles grew by 7% and 22%, respectively, on an annual basis.
“While the job market remained stable in May, the demand for high-value talent remained evident across industries, with AI and machine learning roles leading the way. Hiring for these roles with LPA of Rs 30 lakh and above increased by 27 per cent,” said Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, Info Edge (India) Limited.
Hitesh also mentioned the strong recruitment momentum in emerging cities such as Jaipur and Coimbatore.
Senior professionals remain the most sought-after talent for AI-ML roles, with hiring for professionals with 13 to 16 years of experience increasing by 32 percent, followed by professionals with 16+ years of experience increasing by 28 percent.
New hires increased 7% year over year in May 2026, with demand primarily driven by customer-facing roles.
GCC employment registered a healthy increase of over 8 per cent across major metro markets, led by over 25 per cent in Chennai, over 20 per cent in Hyderabad and over 16 per cent in Pune.
Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai saw GCC employment growth during the month.
Employment in sectors such as FMCG, retail and real estate remained almost flat. Meanwhile, employment in the banking, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, IT, automotive, education, and oil and gas industries fell by 6% to 15% during the month.
However, the FMCG sector recorded positive momentum in the southern markets, with employment increasing by over 14 per cent in Hyderabad and over 17 per cent in Chennai.
Among cities, Hyderabad led the growth in AI employment with a jump of 44%, followed by Delhi-NCR at 34% and Chennai at 31%.
