Formal hiring remains stable as demand for remote work rises: Indeed Hiring Lab
~Software development opportunities continue to grow~
Bengaluru, 31 July 2025: Job creation across India’s formal sector remained stable in June 2025, with Indeed job postings rising modestly by 0.6%, building on strong gains in May. Despite a 4.8% decline year-on-year, job postings are still 80% above pre-pandemic levels, underscoring the resilience of formal hiring activity.
Indeed’s Hiring Lab data reflects recruitment by employers in the formal economy, offering key insights into India’s ongoing economic transition, even as informal employment remains widespread and often untracked.
“Every month, the Indian workforce gradually transitions towards more formal work arrangements,” said Callam Pickering, Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist. “As the nation transitions, job creation across the formal sector will outpace overall employment growth nationwide, a trend we’ve consistently seen over the past few years.”
Remote Work Remains Popular Among Jobseekers
Despite efforts by some employers to return to office routines, remote work continues to attract jobseeker interest. In June 2025, 8.7% of job postings included keywords like “work from home” or ‘hybrid work’ in their job descriptions. This has increased by 1 percentage point over the past year but remains well below its peak of 11.3% in 2020.
While remote job opportunities have been higher in the past, job seekers ‘ interest in these jobs has never been higher. Close to one-in-nine job seekers in India are for remote work, and that number has climbed by 1.5 percentage points over the past year.
Remote work remains appealing due to long commutes in urban areas, increased access to urban or global jobs from rural regions, and improved digital infrastructure, which was fast-tracked by the global pandemic.
Occupational Hiring Trends Show Broad Momentum
Job postings rose in nearly all major occupational categories over the past three months. Gains were largest in agriculture & forestry, up 59%, followed by veterinary (+44%), therapy (36%), and beauty & wellness (34%). Postings across a wide variety of occupations have increased recently, pointing towards broad-based hiring strength throughout India.
The only two sectors where job postings fell were community & social services and pharmacy roles, down 8.5% and 6.8%, respectively, over the past three months. Other weaker performers include human resources (+2.6%), medical information (+4.2%), and project management (+5.2%).
Although not one of the stronger performers, software development opportunities continue to grow, up 7% over the past three months. The sector continues to have the highest volume of job opportunities in India, accounting for around one-in-five Indian job postings.
India’s Labour Market: Moving Towards Higher Productivity
While India’s labour market remains large and complex, the formal sector continues to reflect the country’s shift toward higher-productivity employment. Challenges persist, particularly around skill mismatches and talent gaps in specialized sectors.
“While India has no shortage of job seekers, the skills they bring don’t always align with employers’ evolving needs,” Pickering added.“This creates persistent shortages in high-skill roles, despite overall job availability.”
Conclusion
In June, job creation across India’s formal sector consolidated the large gains from May. This continues to facilitate India’s shift from lower-productivity work in the non-formal sector towards higher-productivity opportunities.
While there is no shortage of workers in India, there can often be mismatches between the skills job seekers possess and the skills employers seek. So skill shortages remain common in India, particularly in higher-skilled segments.
Geopolitical and economic uncertainty remain concerns, but they do not appear to be influencing job creation yet. Employers would naturally prefer greater certainty, which allows them to invest and determine headcount with confidence, but that isn’t possible right now.
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