India, 05 January 2026: As 2025 draws to a close, India's white-collar job market delivered a strong finish, with the Naukri JobSpeak Index reaching 3,001 points in December—a 13% YOY increase from 2,651 points in December 2024. This performance helped lift the October-November-December quarter to a 9% YOY gain, the highest quarterly growth of the year and a positive harbinger for 2026.
The month's momentum stemmed from sectors like Hospitality (+29%), Insurance (+34%), and Real Estate (+21%), alongside sustained demand in AI/ML (+53%). Fresher hiring rose 18%, while roles commanding over 20 LPA grew 27%.
Service-led Sectors Ramped Up Hiring: BPO/ITES, Hospitality, and Insurance
BPO/ITES, Hospitality, and Insurance showed parallel acceleration in hiring through 2025, moving from single-digit gains—or even a dip for BPO—in the first quarter of the calendar year (-3%, 8%, and 4% respectively in JFM) to strong double-digit growth by the year's close (20%, 25%, and 19% in OND).
In December, key non-metros like Jaipur (+94%) and Ahmedabad (+73%) fueled BPO/ITES growth, while metros such as Mumbai (+28%) and Delhi NCR (+25%) propelled Hospitality; Hyderabad stood out for Insurance with a +49% surge.
Demand Surged for CyberSecurity Specialists in High Value Roles
High-value positions (20+LPA) in the IT & InfoSec department posted a +42% YOY growth. Cybersecurity roles like Application Security Engineer (+52%), Manager Information Security (+50%), System Security Engineer (+48%), Security Architect/Consultant (+43%), and Security Administrator (+37%) stood out.
Freshers Continued to Gain Ground in Core Non-IT Sectors
Entry-level hiring ended the year up 18%, with non-tech sectors providing the bulk of new positions. Hospitality and Insurance each saw 56% growth in fresher roles, followed by BPO/ITES at 44% and Real Estate at 43%, continuing a pattern of broadening avenues for young professionals that strengthened through 2025.
Fresher hiring was also majorly driven by non-metro cities like Kochi (+27%), Coimbatore (+23%), Ahmedabad (+21%), and Jaipur (+21%) in December.
Unicorns Hiring Surged majorly in Southern Metros
Unicorn hiring surged 21% YOY in December, with southern metros like Chennai (45%) and Hyderabad (30%) leading the charge. This growth was majorly driven by Internet & E-commerce unicorns that witnessed a strong +22% YOY growth.
Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri, said, “The consistent strength in non-tech sectors throughout the year—culminating in the strongest quarter at 9% in OND—shows this shift is now well entrenched. Equally heartening is how these same sectors have steadily opened more entry-level opportunities, giving freshers a broader set of options as we step into 2026.”
