Indeed Report: India’s Job Market Rebounds, Fueled by GenAI and Tech Hiring

Hiring trends in India continue to defy global slowdown signals, with the country showing strong momentum in formal job creation. According to new data from global hiring platform Indeed, Indian job postings in May rose by 8.9% month-on-month, snapping a streak of eight consecutive monthly declines. However, they remain 1.8% lower year-on-year and 16% below peak levels.

Still, India stands out globally, with job postings almost 80% above pre-pandemic levels, one of the strongest recoveries among major economies tracked by Indeed. By contrast, markets such as the UK, New Zealand, and Switzerland are seeing job posting volumes dip below pre-pandemic levels.

Formalisation Driving Growth in India's Labour Market

Callam Pickering, APAC Senior Economist at Indeed, attributed India’s performance to structural shifts in the economy. “Indian job creation continues to outpace other countries because of the nation’s transition towards more formal economic arrangements,” he said. “As the nation transitions, job creation across the formal sector will be much stronger than overall employment growth nationwide.”

Job Gains Across Majority of Occupations

Around 80% of occupations in India saw increased job postings over the past three months. The strongest growth was observed in:

• Childcare (+27%)

• Personal care & home health (+25%)

• Education (+24%)

• Production & manufacturing (+22%)

These gains helped offset declines in sectors like:

• Dental (-10.2%)

• Agriculture & forestry (-8.6%)

• Community & social service (-6.8%)

• Software development (-4.2%)

Software Development Still Dominates Postings

Despite a short-term dip, software development continues to lead in overall job volume, accounting for one in five job postings on Indeed. This reflects the centrality of the tech sector in India’s growing formal job ecosystem, especially as global firms look to tap into India’s deep and diverse talent pool.

Generative AI Roles Double Year-on-Year

Indeed’s data also reveals a sharp rise in generative AI job listings. As of May 2025, 1.5% of all Indian job postings explicitly mentioned GenAI—a more than 2x increase over the past year.

Regional hubs have emerged for jobs that either use or help develop generative AI. In Karnataka, 2.4% of job postings mention generative AI, just ahead of 2.3% in Telangana. Maharashtra has the second-largest volume of generative AI opportunities and the largest volume of total job opportunities, but it’s mentioned in just 1% of job postings. 

These roles are still largely concentrated in tech, but are spreading fast:

• 12.5% of data analytics postings mention GenAI

• 3.6% in software development

• 3.1% in scientific research

• 1.1% in marketing

• 0.9% in management

Job creation across India’s formal sector remains strong and rose sharply during May. This continues to facilitate a shift from lower-productivity to higher-productivity work as workers transition into the sector. While there is no shortage of workers in India, finding the right set of skills continues to be challenging in some cases.