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India's white-collar hiring rose 14 per cent year-on-year in October, led by strong demand for production and manufacturing roles, while hiring for artificial intelligence (AI) skills and senior professionals also remained robust, a report said on Tuesday. 

The report from jobs site Naukri said that its JobSpeak index rose to 2,836 for the month, up from 2,480 in October 2025.

It further noted that part of the increase reflected a favourable base effect as Diwali fell in October 2025, weighing on recruitment activity during the corresponding period last year.

The automobile sector recorded the strongest hiring growth at 36 per cent, followed by BPO/ITES at 17 per cent and banking and financial services at 16 per cent. Across industries, hiring for production and manufacturing functions grew 39 per cent, making it one of the fastest-rising job functions.

“Manufacturing companies are building capacity, and demand for AI skills remains strong, indicative of the selective, fundamentals-led nature of hiring demand,” said Hitesh Oberoi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Info Edge (India).

In the automobile sector, hiring for production and manufacturing roles rose 41 per cent, research and development 53 per cent, and procurement and supply chain 50 per cent. Sales and business development grew only 7 per cent.

Auto companies are adding people to design, source and build vehicles at a much faster rate than they are adding people to sell them.

The same trend emerged in the industrial products or heavy machinery sector, where production hiring grew 40 per cent and quality assurance 41 per cent. In the construction, engineering, cement and metals, production roles rose 33 per cent, project and programme management 25 per cent, and site engineering 20 per cent.

The FMCG sector grew a modest 6 per cent overall, yet hiring for its production functions rose 40 per cent and procurement 20 per cent. Sales and business development hiring in FMCG fell 5 per cent.

Hiring for professionals with 13–16 years and over 16 years of experience grew 22 per cent each. Fresher recruitment rose 15 per cent, while the 8–12 years and 4–7 years bands grew 14 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.