60% Of Indian Firms Plan Hiring Sprees, Most New Jobs In E-Commerce, Travel: Survey

Companies are hiring again. And they're hiring with confidence.

A new report from TeamLease Services shows net employment change climbing to 5.4 per cent for the period between October 2026 and March 2027. That's up from 4.7 per cent just six months ago. It's the third straight half-year of growth. The survey covered 1,239 employers across 23 industries and 20 cities.

Six in ten employers say they plan to grow their workforce in the coming months. Only 16 per cent plan to cut jobs. The rest expect no change.

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Big companies are leading the charge. Large enterprises show the strongest hiring intent, at 66 per cent. Startups and small businesses follow close behind at 59 per cent.

E-Commerce, Travel To Be Real Winners

Not every sector is growing at the same pace. E-commerce and tech startups top the list, with a projected 12.6 per cent net employment change. Travel and hospitality isn't far behind at 12.3 per cent.

Retail, automotive, and the EV sector round out the top five. On the other end, BPO and educational services are barely moving, with numbers close to flat.

Function-wise, sales and marketing roles are in the highest demand. IT and engineering follow. Blue collar roles also show solid interest, at 24 per cent.

The survey also reveals that Bengaluru tops the list of target locations, with 68 per cent of employers naming it. Hyderabad and Pune are close behind, at 61 per cent and 60 per cent. Old tech hubs, it seems, still win.

Coming to skills, digital literacy tops the wishlist, cited by 59 per cent of employers. Communication skills and teamwork follow. Interestingly, hard technical skills like data analysis and automation rank lower than soft skills like adaptability and critical thinking.

The AI Twist

Here's the part that should worry a lot of workers, and maybe a lot of companies too.

About 85 per cent of employers say they're already using AI or GenAI tools in some part of their workforce. Only 13 per cent of employers say they've scaled AI use across more than half their workforce.

In other words: everyone's experimenting. Almost nobody's committed. This gap between talking about AI and actually using it at scale is, according to the report, one of the biggest opportunities heading into next year. Whoever closes it first may pull ahead.

New Labour Codes Add A Wrinkle

Not everything in the report is upbeat. New labour codes are creating fresh headaches for HR teams. About 39 per cent of employers expect higher compliance and payroll administration costs because of the changes. Another 35 per cent expect a revision in basic pay and allowance structures. Some even expect salary increments to slow down as a result.

Economic conditions remain the single biggest factor shaping hiring decisions, cited by 80 per cent of employers in HY2, FY'27, up sharply from 67 per cent just six months earlier.