India's hiring boom looks like a comeback, but something deeper is breaking the old rules

India’s white-collar job market closed FY’26 on a stronger footing, with hiring rising 8% annually and a sharper 9% growth in March, signalling a broad recovery after a subdued year. However, the growth is uneven and increasingly driven by non-IT sectors, AI/ML roles, and selective high-skill demand, reshaping both opportunity and access across India’s workforce landscape.