New Delhi According to a survey released on Thursday, white-collar hiring in India had a strong start to FY 2025–26, growing by 9% year over year in April.

According to the job site Naukri’s research, a number of industries contributed to the rise, with the pharmaceutical (+14%), real estate (+11%), GCCs (+10%), and oil and gas (+9%) sectors emerging as the main drivers of the recruiting momentum.

Hiring in the IT/Software Services industry increased by 3% in April. Demand for specialized positions was especially high, with recruiting full stack data scientists (+30%), Big Data testing engineers (+26%), and data platform experts (+28%) all seeing significant growth.

Unicorn hiring activity (+15%) exceeded that of international multinational corporations, highlighting the ongoing need for new, digital-first businesses.

Strong demand for specialists in the life sciences (+20%) and research and development (+16%) drove the rise in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. According to the research, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Pune were identified as important centers for talent.

The gain in the oil and gas industry, which was bolstered by increased employment in supply chain and procurement positions (+25%) and sales and business development roles (+12%), reversed the March decrease.

“It is encouraging to see double-digit growths in several core sectors this year after a few soft months that saw mid-single digit growth,” said Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer of Naukri.com.

Two significant trends, he said, are the “strong demand for premium talent and growth in fresher hiring across core non-IT sectors.”

The research also revealed that employment for recent graduates increased by 6% year over year (YoY) in April, with chances appearing in industries including FMCG (+16%), media and entertainment (+15%), oil and gas (+23%), and beauty and wellness (+26%).

The information shows that entry-level employment opportunities are gradually expanding outside of the conventional IT and BFSI industries. According to the research, fresher hires in the 13–20 LPA income range had an extraordinary +22% YoY rise, the greatest of any experience cohort.