India tops in global jobs outlook, IT sector to lead hiring: Report

Bengaluru: India ranks first globally for its employment outlook, exceeding the global average by 15 points in the Net Employment Outlook (NEO) for the January-March 2025 (Q1 2025), according to a report by Manpower Group released on Tuesday.

The IT sector has maintained its position as the strongest hiring sector at 50 per cent, up 4 per cent since the previous quarter and 6 per cent from the corresponding quarter last year. 

The survey, which gathered data from more than 3,000 employers across India, revealed that while 53 per cent of employers' plan to hire, 13 per cent anticipate a decrease in their staffing levels in Q1. Meanwhile, 31 per cent do not expect any change. 

Sandeep Gulati, Managing Director, ManpowerGroup India and Middle East said, “Significant investments in artificial intelligence (AI), along with public funding has benefitted the IT sector’s employment market, resulting in the sector leading with an outlook of 50 per cent. Larger organisations are driving this momentum, signaling sustained opportunities for talent across the country.”

The hiring outlook in North (39 per cent) has marginally dipped by 2 percentage points when compared to previous quarter, whereas in the East (41 per cent) and South (38 per cent), it has risen by 11 percentage points and 3 percentage points respectively.

When it comes to the sectoral hiring outlook, the financials and real estate industry (44 per cent) have reported a dip of 3 percentage points sequentially. Others such as consumer goods and services’ outlook has dropped by 2 percentage points. 

The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers that expect to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter.