Mumbai: Hiring for white-collar roles in the country rose 14 per cent year-on-year, driven by increased demand for talents in the manufacturing sector, a report said.

The Naukri JobSpeak Index, which measures recruitment trends, climbed to 2,836 in October from 2,480 in the same month last year.

Across industries, hiring for production and manufacturing functions grew 39 per cent, making it one of the fastest-rising job functions, the report stated.

"Some of October's growth reflects last year's festive-season base, and we should read it in that light. What's encouraging is the kind of hiring we're seeing. Manufacturing companies are building capacity, and demand for AI skills remains strong, indicative of the selective, fundamentals-led nature of hiring demand," Info Edge (India) Limited MD and CEO Hitesh Oberoi said.

The Naukri JobSpeak report is based on a monthly index that tracks trends in India's job market and hiring activity, based on new job postings (including free job listings) and recruiter searches on naukri.com's resume database.

Among metro cities, the report revealed that Hyderabad led with the maximum contribution at 15 per cent, followed by Pune (14 per cent) and Delhi NCR (13 per cent).

Jobs in Bengaluru and Mumbai grew 12 per cent each. Chennai saw a growth of 11 per cent and the pace remained unchanged in Kolkata.

The fastest growth came from smaller cities, including Gandhinagar at 48 per cent, Surat 36 per cent, Vadodara 30 per cent and Ahmedabad 23 per cent, giving the state four of the seven fastest-growing emerging cities.

Other cities on the list included Raipur (34 per cent), Ranchi (29 per cent) and Jaipur (26 per cent), the report said.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.