India Leads Global Hiring Outlook as Employers Plan Stronger Recruitment in Q4 2026

India's hiring outlook is expected to strengthen during the October-December quarter of 2026, following a moderation in the previous quarter, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.

The survey found that India has the most positive hiring outlook among the global markets covered. Of the 3,055 Indian employers surveyed, 65% expect to increase their workforce during the December quarter, compared with 59% in the September quarter. Another 24% plan to keep staffing levels unchanged, while 11% expect their workforce to decline.

These figures give India a 54% Net Employment Outlook (NEO), which measures the difference between employers planning to increase hiring and those expecting a reduction. The hiring outlook has improved by six percentage points from the previous quarter and 11 percentage points compared with the same period last year. India's NEO is also 25 percentage points higher than the global average.

The survey indicates that companies are increasingly hiring to address changing roles and skill requirements. Among employers planning to recruit, 69% identified evolving roles, expansion into new areas and the need for new technology-related expertise as reasons for adding employees. Meanwhile, 57% reported that their time-to-hire has become faster than a year earlier, with AI adoption in recruitment cited as a major factor.

All nine sectors covered by the survey are expected to increase staffing in the coming quarter. Finance and insurance recorded the strongest outlook at 60%, followed by hospitality at 58% and the information sector at 57%. Hospitality also posted the biggest quarter-on-quarter improvement, rising by 21 percentage points.

Hiring expectations are strongest among organisations employing between 1,000 and 4,999 people, which recorded an NEO of 58%. This was eight percentage points higher than the previous quarter and five points above the year-earlier level.

Employment expectations increased across all organisation sizes compared with the September quarter, except businesses with 10-49 employees, where the outlook declined by two percentage points.