In May 2025, job postings in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) sector increased by 25 percent compared to the previous year, while the overall Information Technology sector experienced a reduction in job openings.

According to the Naukri JobSpeak report from May 2025, overall employment in the IT sector decreased by five percent relative to the same period last year.

Naukri's Chief Business Officer, Pawan Goyal, noted that AI/ML hiring in major cities continued to thrive alongside a steady demand for experienced professionals, which has been a consistent trend over the past year. In May 2025, while the overall job market remained steady, sectors such as real estate (5 percent growth) and insurance (6 percent growth) stood out as brighter spots according to the report.

Job opportunities in Retail, Telecom/ISP, and Banking, Finance & Broking saw declines of 8-9 percent. Conversely, unicorn companies in the banking and financial services sector increased their hiring by 29 percent.

Hyderabad and Kochi recorded hiring increases of 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively, mainly due to the demand for senior-level professionals (those with over 16 years of experience).

Pune also saw a 4 percent rise in overall hiring, largely driven by a notable 26 percent uptick in recruitment by startups.

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The JobSpeak index gauges hiring trends by examining new job listings, applications, and recruiter interactions across various industries, locations, and levels of experience on the Naukri platform, an online job portal.