STEM powers India’s hiring surge: 23% YoY growth led by IT and Manufacturing

foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME), India’s
leading talent platform, published the foundit Insights Tracker (fit)
for August 2025, revealing that India’s job market is increasingly shaped by
STEM-driven industries. The tracker recorded a 23% year-on-year
increase in hiring growth, alongside a 3% rise month-on-month.

“The data reveals a fascinating split within STEM:
IT and electronics are racing ahead while traditional engineering and
healthcare show signs of slowing down. Yet even in this divergence, the
resilience of STEM is clear — these industries are not only creating jobs but
also deepening leadership demand. When mid-senior and senior roles surge in
parallel with IT and manufacturing growth, it signals that India’s workforce is
maturing beyond headcount to capability. This shift is setting the pace for the
broader employment landscape,” said Tarun Sharma, Chief Product
and Technology Officer, foundit.

STEM at the Core of Hiring Growth

India’s STEM employment base grew by 7.4% in
the past year, rising from 6.8 million to 7.3 million jobs. While growth is
steady, it is STEM’s share of the overall workforce that reinforces its
backbone role in the economy.

IT
– Software & Services leads with 35% of
all STEM jobs
BFSI
and Manufacturing together account for nearly
one-fifth of STEM employment, each posting strong annual gains
Healthcare
& Pharma and Construction & Engineering held steady at around 6% share each
Automotive
and Energy sectors expanded to about 5% share
each, reflecting demand in EVs, renewables, and oil & gas
Other
industries such as Retail analytics, Telecom, Consumer Electronics,
Logistics, Agriculture, Education, FMCG R&D, and Media/Entertainment
together contributed around 15% of the STEM job base

STEM Jobs by Function

From a functional perspective, IT roles
such as software development, AI, and data remain dominant, accounting for
one-third of STEM demand.

Engineering
& Production roles grew from 18% to 20%
YoY demand
Customer
Service within tech and BPO held steady
at 11% share
Sales
& Business Development roles rose to 9%
share, while Finance & Accounting and Medical roles
remained stable at 7% each
Marketing
& Communications within STEM grew to 7%
share, recording one of the strongest upticks in demand

Together, these shifts indicate that while IT and core
engineering continue to lead, functions like sales, finance, and marketing are becoming
increasingly integrated into the STEM hiring landscape.

Together, these functions show how STEM is
diversifying: while IT and core engineering remain dominant, adjacencies like
sales, finance, and marketing are increasingly integrated into the STEM hiring
landscape.

Location Trends: Metros Hold, Tier-2 Rising

India’s STEM job growth continues to be concentrated
in metros, but tier-2 cities are steadily gaining share.

Bengaluru remains the largest hub with 16% of STEM jobs,
powered by IT, startups, and GCC expansion.
Delhi
NCR holds a 12% share, with strong
BFSI, IT, and consulting demand.
Hyderabad saw the sharpest rise, lifting its share from 8% to 9%,
the fastest growth among metros.
Mumbai maintained a 7% share, anchored by BFSI and pharmaceuticals.
Chennai,
Pune, and Kolkata together account for
around 9% of STEM jobs, holding steady.

In Tier-2 cities, momentum is building:

Ahmedabad rose to nearly 2% share of jobs, driven by pharma and
manufacturing.
Jaipur crossed 95,000 STEM jobs and a 1.3% share of
jobs, with strong growth in IT services, startups, and BPO.
Coimbatore,
Lucknow, Chandigarh, Indore, and Kochi each
added between 10,000–15,000 jobs, strengthening their
positions in engineering, IT support, and emerging industries.

Collectively, Tier-2 cities now account for
more than 20% of India’s total STEM employment, underscoring their role as
emerging talent hubs.

Job Share and Demand by Experience Level
(YoY)

Freshers (0–3 years) continued to dominate hiring,
accounting for 45% of STEM demand in August 2025, supported by
sustained intake from IT services, GCCs, and startups.

Mid-senior
professionals (7–10 years) held a steady 15%
share of STEM jobs by experience, while the number of jobs in this
band grew by 7% year-on-year.
Senior
leadership roles (>15 years) increased their share from 6% to 7%,
with jobs in this band rising by 25% year-on-year.
Demand
for professionals with 4–6 years and 11–15 years
of experience dipped slightly, showing a cautious approach to
mid-management hiring.

Location trends underline this divide: tier-2
cities reported a stronger focus on freshers, where 52% of STEM jobs were for
the 0–3 years band, while metros skewed towards experienced
professionals, with nearly one-third (33%) of roles targeted
at those with more than 7 years of experience.

Overall Market Trends

Beyond STEM, the overall tracker reflected steady
momentum:

FMCG
(+41%), Retail (+40%) and IT –
Software & Services (+17%) were the fastest-growing
industries.
Healthcare
& Pharma (-5% MoM), Printing & Packaging (-10% MoM), and Shipping
& Maritime (-7% YoY) reported slowdowns.
Mumbai
(+26% YoY), Bengaluru (+19%), Pune (+18%), and Hyderabad (+18%) were the leading hiring hubs, with Coimbatore (+23%)
and Ahmedabad (+22%) driving tier-2 momentum.

About foundit Insights Tracker

The foundit Insights Tracker (fit) is a
comprehensive monthly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by
foundit. Based on a real-time review of millions of job listings from a wide
range of online career platforms, the index offers a snapshot of online
recruitment activities nationwide. Previously known as the Monster Employment
Index, it provided a comprehensive perspective on hiring patterns based on
industry, role, location, and experience. Now, in its new avatar, it delivers
more detailed insights on recruitment trends, focusing on the demand for
specific skills, available positions, and the salary ranges in the
market.

Timeframe for the report

The timeframe for the fit data is May 2023 vs May
2024.

About foundit – APAC & Middle East

foundit, formerly Monster (APAC & ME) is a leading
talent platform offering comprehensive employment solutions to recruiters and
job seekers across APAC & ME. In addition to a powerful AI-powered job
search, foundit offers e-learning, assessments, and services related to resume
creation, interview preparation, and professional networking. Since its
inception, the company has assisted over 90 million job seekers across 18
countries in upskilling and connecting them with the right job
opportunities. foundit is now also the Official Talent Partner of the
Badminton World Federation across 20 key world tour events.

Over the last two decades, the company has been a
leader in the world of recruitment solutions and has recently launched a
cutting-edge solution to give recruiters access to passive candidates in
addition to active ones. With the use of advanced technology, foundit is
seeking to efficiently bridge the talent gap across industry verticals,
experience levels, and geographies. Today, foundit is committed to enabling and
connecting the right talent with the right opportunities by harnessing the
power of deep tech to sharpen hyper-personalised job searches and offer
precision hiring. Additionally, foundit has been recognised as a Great Place To
Work, reflecting its dedication to fostering a supportive and dynamic work
culture.