Formal job creation in India saw a further dip in October 2025 after job postings declined by nearly 20% year-on-year and 5.6% in comparison to the previous month, according to a report on Thursday.
With this, the softening in job creation has continued for a second month straight with job postings 20% lower than the same month a year ago, as per a report by global job site Indeed.
Over the past three months, job postings declined in almost three-quarters, mainly led by sectors like banking and finance, where postings fell 25.6%, along with legal (22.4%), retail (16.7%) and loading and stocking (15%), said the report.
“Every month, the Indian workforce is gradually transitioning towards more formal work arrangements. As the nation transitions, job creation in the formal sector is expected to outpace overall employment growth nationwide,” Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist Callam Pickering said.
“This transition is also why job postings in India have been stronger than in other markets, both during the post-pandemic job boom and the subsequent slowdown.”
The report revealed that in a softening job market, there was still be some strong performers like jobs postings in cleaning and sanitation rose around 20 per cent over the past three months, ahead of community and social service (17.4%), dental (13.1%), nursing (11.2%) and food preparation and service (10.3%).
Another positive was the posting for human resources, which rose 2.3%, the report added.
The report is based on job posting data on the Indeed platform, which tracks real-time hiring activity across India’s formal economy.
It further revealed that in October, 9.1% of job postings explicitly mentioned phrases such as “work from home” or “work remotely” in their job descriptions, which is 7.6% more than the same month last year.
Remote opportunities are most common in IT infrastructure, operations and support, accounting for 18.2% of postings in the October quarter 2025, ahead of community and social service (15.1%) and industrial engineering (14%).
The share of remote jobs has also increased since last year, led by IT infrastructure, operations and support (over 4.4 percentage points) and installation and maintenance (3.4 percentage points).
By comparison, large declines in remote jobs were observed for veterinary (2.5 percentage points) and community and social service (1.9 percentage points).
“Changes in remote work arrangements can reflect shifting attitudes among employers, particularly with regard to work-from-home mandates. It may also reflect employers’ attempts to attract more candidates,” Pickering added.
(With PTI Inputs)
