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The white-collar hiring activity in India saw robust growth in October with a significant 10 per cent increase (year-on-year), with sectors like oil and gas, pharma/biotech, FMCG and IT emerging as primary drivers of this positive trend, according to a report on Monday. 

Artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) roles showed exceptional growth at 39 per cent year-on-year and 2 per cent month-on-month, according to data by The Naukri JobSpeak Index.

ML engineer roles saw a remarkable 75 per cent growth. Notably, hiring in IT sector showed positive growth in four out of seven months this fiscal, auguring well for balance of year trends.

After a sluggish performance throughout the year, hiring for freshers showed encouraging signs with a 6 per cent year-on-year growth in October.

“The accelerating pace of fresher hiring is a strong indicator of business confidence and presents exciting opportunities for upcoming graduates,” said Dr Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.

IT unicorns demonstrated strong performance with a 28 per cent increase in white-collar hiring. At the same time, foreign MNCs and global capability centres (GCCs) in the IT sector, which had a relatively slower growth through the year, showed an impressive jump of 5 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

Overall, GCCs demonstrated consistent growth with a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in October, said the report. The festive period also witnessed a significant growth in data-focused positions.

Southern states demonstrated exceptional growth in white-collar hiring, with multiple cities showing strong year-on-year gains.

Tamil Nadu emerged as a standout performer with a 24 per cent YoY growth, followed by Telangana (+16 per cent), Karnataka (+12 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (+9 per cent) and Kerala (+7 per cent).

Senior roles and strategic hires continued to drive job market growth. FMCG and pharmaceutical/biotechnology sectors were particularly keen on hiring experienced professionals, said the report.