India’s white-collar job market recorded a 12% year-on-year development in February, amid rising AI adoptions and a restoration within the IT sector, a report mentioned on Tuesday.
White-collar job market posted its strongest February efficiency in recent times, with the Naukri JobSpeak Index reaching 3,233 factors – up 12% from 2,890 factors in February 2025.
The month-on-month acceleration from January to February got here in at 23%, noticeably sharper than the 13-16% vary sometimes seen between the 2 months, the report based mostly on Naukri JobSpeak Index added.
The IT sector posted over 6% year-on-year development in hiring in February 2026.
Freshers’ hiring within the sector additionally grew by a wholesome 8%.
India-based multi-national IT corporations have been the first driver, recording a 55% hiring surge, the report mentioned.
Throughout the IT sector, it mentioned that AI/ML (synthetic intelligence/machine studying) hiring rose 40%, reinforcing that February efficiency was concentrated in highest-skill, highest-value expertise segments.
The Naukri JobSpeak is a month-to-month index that tracks tendencies in India’s job market and hiring exercise, based mostly on new job postings and recruiter searches on Naukri.com’s resume database.
The report additional mentioned that freshers’ hiring grew 17% yearly, whereas the demand for roles within the Rs 20 lakh-per-annum band rose 23%, reflecting energy throughout each entry-level and high-value expertise segments.
In the meantime, non-IT sectors continued to anchor the hiring momentum, with insurance coverage main at 28%, adopted by BPO/ITES (22%), actual property (19%), hospitality/journey (15%) and retail (14%).
In February 2026, Indian MNCs expanded hiring by 24%.
Within the IT sector, AI/ML roles sustained their robust trajectory, rising 49% year-on-year.
Indian MNCs grew their AI/ML hiring by 82%, in comparison with 43% for overseas MNCs, the report mentioned, highlighting that home enterprises are putting their greatest bets within the adoption of the brand new expertise.
IT hiring is recovering meaningfully, and Indian MNCs are investing in AI expertise at a wholesome tempo. The underlying momentum heading into the brand new fiscal yr appears to be like genuinely strong, mentioned Naukri Chief Enterprise Officer Pawan Goyal.
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