India’s staffing industry surges 5 pc in Q2 FY26 sequentially

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The overall staffing industry in India witnessed robust quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth at 5 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2 FY26), while maintaining an annual growth rate of 5.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY), a report said on Wednesday.

The surge in employment reflects a positive demand for a formal staffing workforce across various key sectors. The general and IT staffing industries both contributed positively to the overall growth trajectory in Q2 FY26.

“The General Staffing Industry witnessed a growth of 5 per cent QoQ in the quarter under review and at 5.5 per cent YoY, driven by demands from FMCG, e-commerce, retail and others. Banking, financial services, and insurance, fueled by digital transformation and compliance hiring, added new employment,” the Indian Staffing Federation said in its report.

The IT staffing industry demonstrated a more robust performance, witnessing a 16 per cent YoY growth and a high 4.9 per cent QoQ growth, benefitting from ongoing global demand for AI, cloud computing, digital services, as well as new demands from Global Capability Centres (GCCs).

“The members of the federation maintained a growth, adding 92K new formal temporary jobs in the last four quarters.” Indian Staffing Federation President Lohit Bhatia said.

This represents a demand momentum, driven primarily by sectors such as FMCG, e-commerce, logistics, and energy, he added. The sequential recovery in Q2 FY26 was notably driven by the rebound in the IT consulting sector, largely spearheaded by tier-2 tech firms.

“India’s IT sector, coming out of the red after a long time, has started showing signs of strong resilience, strategically addressing market dynamics with scale of operations. The growth was at a significant 16 per cent year-on-year in Q2 FY26, the highest in three years,” ISF Vice President Manmeet Singh said.

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