White-collar jobs defy festive lull

New Delhi: India’s white-collar job market in October 2025 showed notable strength in education, accounting and finance, BPO/ITES, and specialised tech roles despite a slowdown in recruitment during the Diwali-Dussehra holidays, a report by Naukri said on Monday. The report from the recruitment platform said that India’s white-collar hiring experienced a 3 per cent year-on-year growth when adjusted for the ‘holiday effect’ from the festive calendar shift.

The Naukri JobSpeak Index recorded 2,480 points during the month, marking a 9 per cent year-on-year dip, as the Diwali-Dussehra festive cluster temporarily slowed recruitment momentum. While the festive season led to a broad-based slowdown, sectors such as accounting and finance (up 15 per cent YoY), education (up 13 per cent), and BPO/ITeS (up 6 per cent) defied the trend with positive growth.