As per the survey, the Indian white-collar job market is gearing up for a hiring surge, with 96% of employers (up from 92% in 2024) expressing optimism around expected hiring activities in the first half of the year.
It further reveals that out of these 96% employers, a robust 58% are taking a two-pronged approach—both creating fresh positions and filling existing roles—a significant jump from the 48% who adopted this strategy last year. Among the remaining employers, 18% plan to exclusively create new positions and 20% plan to concentrate solely on replacement hiring. Layoffs are expected to go down. The proportion of employers expecting the same has shrunk from 3% in 2024 to 2% this year.
IT Roles Lead the Charge, But Retention is a Concern
IT roles emerged as the hottest role across industries, with 37% of employers prioritizing IT roles—a major jump from 24% in 2024. 42% of them also expect IT roles to see the highest attrition, signaling a talent retention challenge in the industry.
Mid-Career Professionals in Demand
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% of hiring activity, up from 53% last year. Demand for talent that brings both fresh perspectives and hands-on expertise, is expected to be on the rise.
Budget Constraint Emerges as the Biggest Hiring Hurdle
Despite the sunny hiring outlook, employers are facing several challenges. 1/4th of the employers are wrestling with talent shortages, while 27% cite budget constraints as their biggest headache. Another 22% struggle to find available candidates with increasingly specific skill requirements.
Attrition to go up; Double Digit Increments on the Cards
The job market is more fluid than last year. Fewer employers expect attrition to remain below 5% this year, with the proportion shrinking from 23% in 2024 to 17% in 2025.
More employers (34%) as compared to the 30% last year, predict employee churn in the range of 5-10%. The most likely job switchers are expected to be professionals with 3-5 years of experience (33%), followed by those with 1-3 years (26%).
For employees, the upside is clear—big paychecks are on the horizon. 54% of employers plan double-digit salary hikes, while 39% are preparing increases in the 5-10% range.
Fresh graduates too have reason to be optimistic. 34% of employers confirm campus hiring will continue as planned (up from 30% last year), offering a more stable entry into the workforce.
Dr. Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri.com, observes, “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. 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.”
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