White-collar hires 3 PCs in August. Non-IT, AI-ML roles drive growth

India's white-collar job market experienced a 3% year-on-year growth in employment in August 2025, driven primarily by robust employment in non-IT sectors and a surge in demand for the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), according to the latest Naukri JobSpeak report.

White-collar jobs usually refer to professional, administrative or administrative roles, often requiring professional skills and higher education.

The insurance sector has grown with employment growth of 24%, hospitality (+22%) and real estate (+18%). Other sectors showing positive growth include BPO/ITE (+17%), education (+16%), oil and gas electricity (+7%), retail (+3%) and FMCG (+2%).

The role of AI/ML shows strong demand for professional talent in emerging technologies, witnessing a surge in recruitment by 54%.

In contrast, the IT/Software Services sector saw a 6% drop in overall employment. However, unicorns have defied this trend and recorded a 10% growth in employment.

Banking and financial services fell by 11%, while Telecom/ISP fell by 13%. The automotive sector also recorded a 3% decline. Fresh employment (0-3 years of experience) increased by 7%, primarily driven by non-IT sectors such as hospitality, real estate and education. Hyderabad has emerged as the top metro city for employment, witnessing a massive surge of 10% overall growth and 45% in unicorn recruitment.

“In August, two trends stand out. One is that the non-IT sector continues to lock in job market growth. This is a pattern that appears in recent months. The other is interesting, the emergence of Hyderabad as a hotbed for startup employment, becoming a major subway in terms of overall employment growth. PTI