Key points:

  • Indian job postings rose sharply in May, following eight consecutive monthly declines. 
  • Despite recent falls, Indian job postings are almost 80% above pre-pandemic levels, reflecting India’s ongoing transition towards more formal work arrangements. 
  • Around 1.5% of Indian job postings mention generative AI, more than doubling over the past year. 

In May, Indian job postings on Indeed rebounded strongly, up 8.9%, following eight consecutive monthly declines. Despite the bounce, postings are still 1.8% lower than a year ago and around 16% below their peak. 

Line and bar graph titled “Change in Indian job postings on Indeed.” With a vertical axis ranging from -30 to 60%, Indian job postings rose by 8.9% in May, following a run of eight consecutive monthly declines. 
Line and bar graph titled “Change in Indian job postings on Indeed.” With a vertical axis ranging from -30 to 60%, Indian job postings rose by 8.9% in May, following a run of eight consecutive monthly declines. 

Even so, Indian job postings remain nearly 80% above pre-pandemic levels. That ranks highly compared to other major Indeed markets, although comparisons should be made with caution.  

Indian job creation continues to outpace other countries because of the nation’s transition towards more formal or structured economic arrangements. Indeed data reflects recruitment by companies and organisations — the formal economy — rather than the informal work arrangements still common throughout India. As this transition continues, job growth in the formal sector will likely be stronger than overall employment growth nationwide, and we have consistently seen that in recent years. Other Indeed markets are not going through a transition of this nature. 

Bar graph titled “Global job postings growth.” With a horizontal axis ranging from -30 to 90%, Indian job postings are up almost 80% compared to pre-pandemic levels, comparing favourably to other major Indeed markets. 
Bar graph titled “Global job postings growth.” With a horizontal axis ranging from -30 to 90%, Indian job postings are up almost 80% compared to pre-pandemic levels, comparing favourably to other major Indeed markets. 

Recent posting growth mixed across occupations

Job postings in around 80% of occupations increased over the past three months. Gains were largest in beauty & wellness, up 28%, followed by therapy (+27%), childcare (+27%) and personal care & home health (+25%). Education (+24%) and production & manufacturing (+22%) also recorded strong gains. 

These increases more than offset declines across a handful of sectors. Dental opportunities fell 10.2% over the past three months, while postings in agriculture & forestry (-8.6%), community & social service (-6.8%) and software development (-4.2%) also declined. 

Despite a recent dip, software development still accounts for around one in five Indian job postings — more than any other sector. This highlights how critical the tech sector has been to India’s emerging formal sector, as multinationals continue to tap into India’s vast talent pool.

Table titled “Change in Indian job postings.” Indeed’s data shows that Indian job postings for beauty & wellness, therapy and childcare were the fastest growing over the past three months, whereas dental, agriculture & forestry and community & social service opportunities declined the most. 
Table titled “Change in Indian job postings.” Indeed’s data shows that Indian job postings for beauty & wellness, therapy and childcare were the fastest growing over the past three months, whereas dental, agriculture & forestry and community & social service opportunities declined the most. 

Generative AI opportunities continue to grow strongly

India has rapidly established itself as a generative AI powerhouse. In May 2025, 1.5% of Indian job postings explicitly mentioned generative AI in their job descriptions, more than double the share a year earlier.  

Line graph titled “Indian generative AI postings.” With a vertical axis ranging from 0 to 1.6%, the share of Indian job postings mentioning generative AI reached 1.5% in May 2025, more than doubling over the past year. 
Line graph titled “Indian generative AI postings.” With a vertical axis ranging from 0 to 1.6%, the share of Indian job postings mentioning generative AI reached 1.5% in May 2025, more than doubling over the past year. 

While demand is concentrated in the tech sector, generative AI opportunities are spreading across a wide range of roles. Around 12.5% of data analytics roles mention generative AI, ahead of software development (3.6%) and scientific research (3.1%). It’s also commonly mentioned across a range of office roles, including marketing (1.1%) and management (0.9%)

Table titled “Indian generative AI postings.” Indeed’s data shows that 12.5% of data analytics postings mention generative AI in their job descriptions, ahead of software development (3.6%) and scientific research (3.1%).
Table titled “Indian generative AI postings.” Indeed’s data shows that 12.5% of data analytics postings mention generative AI in their job descriptions, ahead of software development (3.6%) and scientific research (3.1%).

Regional hubs have emerged for jobs that either utilise generative AI or help develop it. In Karnataka, 2.4% of job postings mention generative AI, just ahead of 2.3% in Telangana. Maharashtra, which has the largest total volume of job postings, ranks second for generative AI volume but has a lower share, at 1% of postings. 

Conclusion

Job creation across India’s formal sector remains strong and rose sharply during May. This continues to facilitate a shift from lower- to higher-productivity work as more workers transition into the formal sector. While India has no shortage of workers, finding the right set of skills continues to be challenging in some cases. 

Geopolitical and economic uncertainty could certainly impact India’s economy and job creation over the second half of the year. Given an uncertain trading environment, it’s currently difficult for many businesses to plan ahead, which may impact job creation. However, we haven’t seen evidence of that in Indeed job postings yet.