Indian white-collar job market to see hiring surge in 2025 1st half

The Indian white-collar job market is gearing up for a hiring surge, with 96 per cent of employers (up from 92 per cent in 2024) expressing optimism around expected hiring activities in the first half of the year, a report said on Thursday.

Out of these 96 per cent employers, about 58 per cent are taking a two-pronged approach — both creating fresh positions and filling existing roles — a significant jump from the 48 per cent who adopted this strategy last year, according to the report by Naukri.com.

Among the remaining employers, 18 per cent plan to exclusively create new positions and 20 per cent plan to concentrate solely on replacement hiring.

Layoffs are expected to go down. The proportion of employers expecting the same has shrunk from 3 per cent in 2024 to 2 per cent this year, the report mentioned.

IT roles emerged as the lead role across industries, with 37 per cent of employers prioritising IT roles — a major jump from 24 per cent in 2024.

About 42 per cent of them also expect IT roles to see the highest attrition, signalling a talent retention challenge in the industry.

Professionals with 3-8 years of experience find themselves in the sweet spot for 2025's job market. Employers are actively targeting mid-career professionals, who will account for 58 per cent of hiring activity, up from 53 per cent last year.

Demand for talent that brings both fresh perspectives and hands-on expertise, is expected to be on the rise.

“It is encouraging to see companies' strong hiring intent backed by substantial increment plans for H1 2025. The renewed focus on both new job creation and replacement hiring across sectors signals a positive first half of the year,” said Dr Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri.com.

While attrition remains a concern in early career brackets, the planned double-digit increments and stable campus hiring trends indicate that employers are prioritizing retention and long-term workforce planning, he added.

Fresh graduates too have reason to be optimistic. 34 per cent of employers confirm campus hiring will continue as planned (up from 30 per cent last year), offering a more stable entry into the workforce.