New Delhi, February 2 (IANS). Recruitment for white-collar (office related) jobs in India has started the year 2026 at a steady pace. An annual increase of 3 percent was recorded in recruitment in the month of January. The biggest reason for this growth was non-IT sector and recruitment of freshers.
According to the Naukri Jobspeak Index report released on Monday, non-IT sectors were the main reasons for this increase. In this, a growth of more than 21 percent was seen in the BPO/ITES sector. At the same time, a growth of more than 15 percent was recorded in the hospitality and travel sector, more than 7 percent in the insurance sector and more than 5 percent in the healthcare sector.
According to the report, banking and financial services were one of the major non-IT sectors that saw a decline. There was a decline of 15 percent on annual basis. At the same time, there was no change in the IT sector throughout the month and it remained almost stable. However, jobs related to AI and machine learning (AI/ML) saw a strong growth of more than 34 percent.
For the last three months, the BPO/ITES sector has been consistently among the top 5 sectors, witnessing double digit growth on an annual basis.
Total recruitment in BPO/ITES sector increased by 21 percent in January 2026. There was a sharp increase of 39 percent in the recruitment of freshers. At the same time, an increase of 9 percent was recorded in the recruitment of professionals with 13 to 16 years of experience.
Non-metro cities played an important role in this growth. Recruitment in Jaipur increased by more than 66 percent, while Ahmedabad saw an increase of more than 43 percent.
The report states that foreign multinational companies (MNCs) played a big role in this boom. An increase of more than 80 percent was recorded in the recruitment activities of these companies.
Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said that it is encouraging to see continuous annual growth in sectors like BPO/ITES and hospitality. These sectors have started 2026 on a strong and positive note. Along with this, good performance of Indian IT MNCs is also a good sign for the job market.
Geographically, this increase in recruitment was led by Pune, where there was an increase of more than 23 percent. After this, an increase of 18 percent was recorded in Chennai, 17 percent in Bengaluru and 16 percent in Ahmedabad. It is clear from this that along with the big cities of South India, the emerging markets of Western India are also making a strong contribution.
–IANS
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