White-collar hiring in India remained steady in May 2026, with the insurance sector showing over 19% year-on-year growth, followed by BPO/ITES at over 9%. According to a report by Naukri, healthcare saw over 6% growth, and hospitality over 5%. The Naukri JobSpeak Index for May 2026 reached 2836, slightly higher than the previous year’s 2807.
Hyderabad continued to exhibit positive hiring growth of over 6% year-on-year among major metros. Emerging cities like Coimbatore and Surat also saw growth rates of over 8% and 9% respectively. Fresher hiring increased by 7%, while AI or machine learning roles surged by 22% annually.
Hitesh Oberoi, MD & CEO of Info Edge (India) Limited, highlighted the demand for high-value talent in May, especially in AI or ML roles. Hiring for these roles offering salaries above Rs 30 LPA grew by 27%. Notably, there was significant fresher hiring momentum in emerging cities such as Jaipur and Coimbatore.
Senior professionals were in high demand for AI-ML roles, with hiring for those with 13–16 years of experience growing by 32%, followed by a 28% increase for professionals with over 16 years of experience. While fresher hiring grew by 7% year-on-year, the demand was mainly driven by customer-facing roles.
GCC hiring in leading metro markets saw a healthy growth of over 8%, with Chennai leading at over 25%, followed by Hyderabad at over 20% and Pune at over 16%. Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai also experienced positive hiring growth by GCCs during the month.
Sectors like FMCG, retail, and real estate saw relatively flat hiring trends, while banking, telecom, pharma, IT, auto, education, and oil & gas witnessed a decline ranging from 6% to 15% in hiring during the month. However, the FMCG sector showed positive momentum in southern markets, with hiring increasing by over 14% in Hyderabad and over 17% in Chennai.
Hyderabad led AI hiring growth among cities with a 44% surge, followed by Delhi NCR at 34% and Chennai at 31%.
