Formal employment slows, pay transparency dips, but high-skill demand drives resilience
India’s job market softened in July, with postings on global hiring platform Indeed falling 5.8% month-on-month and 14.9% year-on-year. Yet, postings remain 70% above pre-pandemic levels, underscoring resilience in formal employment despite cyclical cooling.
According to Indeed Hiring Lab, the decline follows a peak in January 2023, with postings now down 21% since that high. The data reflects a shifting labour market where formal, high-skilled roles anchor growth even as overall hiring moderates.
Tech demand remains strong
Technology continues to be the backbone of India’s formal hiring. One in five job postings is in software development, with analytics also driving growth. Over the past three months, data & analytics postings rose 15.4%, while logistics support (+14.3%), therapy (+13.7%), and dental (+13.6%) also recorded healthy gains.
“Even when overall hiring slows, tech remains the heartbeat of India’s job market. The challenge isn’t demand — it’s whether we can build a workforce skilled enough to meet it.”
– Callam Pickering, APAC Senior Economist, Indeed
By contrast, sectors such as medical information (-12.3%), pharmacy (-10.7%), education (-8.0%), and physicians & surgeons (-7.8%) saw notable declines, highlighting the market’s tilt toward technology and high-skill professions.
Pay transparency dips
Another trend shaping July was a drop in pay transparency. Earlier this year, more than half of job postings included salary details, but that figure slipped to 45%.
Transparency varied by sector: childcare and dental roles disclosed salaries in 88% of listings, while data & analytics (9.4%) and software development (18.3%) ranked among the least transparent.
“Employers who share pay details hold a clear competitive advantage, as transparency helps candidates make faster, informed decisions,” the report noted.
Skills mismatch persists
While India has no shortage of workers, skill mismatches remain a challenge. High demand for tech and management professionals continues to outpace supply, reinforcing the need for upskilling and workforce development.
Despite the July dip, Indeed’s findings reflect a labour market in transition — from informal work toward structured, high-skilled employment, with technology acting as the cornerstone of resilience.