MUMBAI: The Naukri JobSpeak Index, India’s leading indicator of white-collar hiring activity, grew to 2877 points in July 2024, registering a notable 12% YoY increase vs July 2023 and an 11% MoM sequential increase compared to June 2024. Most sectors reported healthy double-digit growths, with Pharma/Biotech (26%), FMCG (26%), Real Estate (23%), and AI-ML (47%) leading the way. However, it is worth noting that some of the goodness could be due to an impacted base of July’23, which saw an atypical dip in Index value on account of the IT sector’s woes.
Pharma, Real Estate, and FMCG Lead the Pack with 20% plus Growth
The Pharma/Biotech sector recorded a substantial 26% YoY increase, with Baroda (61%) and Hyderabad (39%) driving the surge. Key roles within Pharma like Sales & Business Development and Procurement & Supply Chain saw a 42% rise in hiring. Similarly, hiring in the FMCG sector grew by 26%, led by Bangalore (52%) and Kolkata (43%), with Marketing and Communication roles in FMCG experiencing a remarkable 57% increase. The Real Estate sector also demonstrated a strong 23% growth in hiring, largely influenced by Delhi-NCR (+51%) and Hyderabad (+28%).
AI-ML Sector continues its scorching momentum
The IT sector experienced a healthy 17% growth in July’24 as compared to July’23. Meanwhile, the AI-ML sector continued its robust performance with a remarkable 47% YoY increase. Kolkata (38%) and Pune (30%) were significant contributors to this expansion, highlighting the rising demand for AI-ML. Among the roles seeing the highest growth in hiring were Machine Learning Engineers, Data Scientists, BI Managers, and Product Managers.
GCC hiring on back of Delhi & Hyderabad
Global Capability Centers (GCC) saw a 12% YoY increase, driven by hiring in Delhi-NCR (32%) and Hyderabad (29%). Growth within Consulting Firms and Accounting & Finance was particularly prominent, with increases of 51% and 37%, respectively.
Regional Bright Spots
Gujarat continued to lead the pack with Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Baroda recording 39%, 38%, and 25% growth respectively. Hyderabad emerged as a key hub for job creation across multiple key industries, including Hospitality (76%), Insurance (71%), BPO (52%) and Oil & Gas (44%). Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam have reported healthy sequential growth of 13% and 14% respectively.
Broad-Based Growth Witnessed across Experience Levels
For the first time in 2024, hiring across all experience levels showed positive growth. In particular, fresher hiring which has been heavily subdued for a while, saw an encouraging 7% YoY growth. Two sectors, Finance (28%) and Medical (22%), have contributed to this recovery in the fresher’s job market.
Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer of Naukri, commented, “The robust 12% growth in hiring activity is a much-awaited, encouraging sign for this financial year. This is the first month this year that we have seen positive growth, and the fact that it’s secular, cutting across sectors and geographies, makes it truly promising. This broad-based, positive shift could potentially be the onset of an upcycle in the Indian white-collar job market.“
