India's formal job creation sees 20% dip in October; banking, legal worst hit: Indeed report

MUMBAI: Formal job creation in India softened further in October, with job postings down by nearly 20 per cent year-on-year and 5.6 per cent compared to the previous month, a report said on Thursday. This marks the second consecutive month of decline in job creation, leaving postings nearly 20 per cent lower than the same month a year ago, according to 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 per cent, along with legal (22.4 per cent), retail (16.7 per cent) and loading and stocking (15 per cent), 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. "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," Indeed's APAC Senior Economist Callam Pickering said.

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 per cent), dental (13.1 per cent), nursing (11.2 per cent) and food preparation and service (10.3 per cent). Another positive was the posting for human resources, which rose 2.3 per cent, the report added.

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Remote jobs common in IT

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 per cent of job postings explicitly mentioned phrases such as 'work from home' or 'work remotely' in their job descriptions, which is 7.6 per cent more than the same month last year.

Remote opportunities are most common in IT infrastructure , operations and support, accounting for 18.2 per cent of postings in the October quarter 2025, ahead of community and social service (15.1 per cent) and industrial engineering (14 per cent). 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.