India’s white-collar hiring activity moderated in May 2026, declining 4 per cent year-on-year despite a surge in diversity hiring, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The overall white-collar hiring dropped 6 per cent month-on-month, indicating continued employer caution amid evolving market conditions, according to the latest foundit Insights Tracker (fit) report.
However, diversity hiring increased by 21 per cent during the same period.
Slowing recruitment across multiple sectors such as import and export (-23 per cent), logistics and transportation (-18 per cent), retail (-8 per cent), and BFSI (-8 per cent) affected the year-on-year hiring trend, the report added.
Sectors such as travel and tourism (26 per cent), automotive (12 per cent), healthcare and pharmaceuticals (11 per cent), and real estate (11 per cent) witnessed robust year-on-year hiring momentum in May.
The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) report is a comprehensive monthly analysis of 7,39,188 online job postings conducted by foundit.in, a leading job search platform.
According to the report, diversity hiring witnessed double-digit growth in May, reflecting employers’ commitment to inclusive workforce strategies even as overall recruitment activity remained selective.
Women accounted for 56 per cent of all diversity-focused recruitment, while PwD (Persons with Disabilities) representation tripled over two years, growing to 12 per cent. At the same time, D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) hiring, which includes LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse talent, expanded to nearly one-third of all diversity recruitments, the report added.
“While overall hiring has grown more selective, organisations continue to invest in talent areas that support long-term business resilience,” foundit CEO Tarun Sinha said.
The sustained momentum in diversity hiring reflects a structural shift in how India Inc. is approaching inclusion — less as a compliance requirement and more as a capability strategy, he stated.
“The expansion into leadership roles, technology functions, and previously underrepresented groups such as PwDs signals a more integrated and mature approach to building future-ready workforces,” Sinha added.
According to the report, the IT-Software and Services sector led diversity hiring at 25 per cent. LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse talent comprised up to 40 per cent of the total diversity hiring in the sector.
The BFSI sector recorded the highest women’s representation at 62 per cent of its diversity hiring, followed by FMCG (61 per cent) and Healthcare (60 per cent).
PwD hiring was most concentrated in ITES/BPO (18 per cent) and manufacturing and automotive (16 per cent), while consulting and analytics expanded their diversity hiring share to 14 per cent.
