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Job Search After a Layoff in India: Best Job Portals and What Actually Works

Most of the hiring here starts with a recruiter searching a database, not with you applying to an advertisement. That one fact changes where the effort should go — and it is why fixing your profile beats sending more applications.

Quick Answer

How do I find a job in India after a layoff?

Fix the profile before you increase the applications. A large share of Indian hiring begins with a recruiter running a search, so being findable does more work than applying does. Make your Naukri profile complete, current and keyword-loaded, and set the notice period to what a layoff has actually made you — usually immediate.

Then widen deliberately: the National Career Service is free and government-run, consultants matter more than boards above fifteen years, and global capability centres are the natural landing place if your experience is international. Settle your exit documents in parallel, because verification will check them.

Estimated time
An evening to fix the profile, then a daily routine
Cost / impact
Free · the government portal cannot charge you
What you need
Your Naukri profile numbers, your exit paperwork

Best job portals in India

There is no single best portal — there is a best portal for your situation, and the difference between them is bigger than the rankings suggest. A senior manager and a field sales candidate should barely be using the same sites. Every portal below was checked on 16 September 2026; the free-and-paid lines are each company's own, from its own pricing or FAQ pages.

All-round portals

Where most Indian white-collar hiring still runs. The important thing about this group is that recruiters search the candidate database as much as they post ads — so being findable matters at least as much as applying.

  • Naukri.com ↗

    The broadest experienced-hire coverage in India, and the one database most Indian recruiters search first.

    Cost: Free to create a profile and to apply. Naukri's FAQ states it plainly: creating a profile is free of cost, and applying to jobs is free of cost. Paid services are sold separately at resume.naukri.com.

    Tip: Treat your profile as the product, not your applications. A recruiter searching the database will never see the jobs you applied to — they see your headline, your key skills and your notice period.

  • Shine.com ↗

    Mainstream white-collar roles, and the strongest walk-in-drive listings of the big boards — its homepage surfaces walk-in drives as a primary feature.

    Cost: Free to register, search and apply. Paid services and courses are sold separately.

    Tip: Worth a look specifically for walk-in drives if you need to compress the timeline — they collapse the screening and first interview into one day.

    Shine states it lists over 5 lakh job opportunities.

  • TimesJobs ↗

    A second all-round board worth a duplicate profile — some employers post here and not on Naukri.

    Cost: Free to register, search and apply.

    Tip: Low effort, non-zero return: copy your Naukri profile across once and set alerts. It costs an evening and widens the net.

  • foundit (formerly Monster India) ↗

    All-round white-collar search with reach across APAC and the Middle East, which matters if you are open to a Gulf move.

    Cost: Free to register and apply.

    Tip: If you are considering the Gulf, start here rather than on a domestic-only board. Note the name — monsterindia.com now redirects to foundit.in.

  • Indeed India ↗

    A high-volume aggregator that surfaces listings from company sites and other boards.

    Cost: Free to search and apply.

    Tip: Best used for discovery rather than for applying. Find the role here, then apply on the company's own careers page where the application is actually read.

Senior and management roles

Above roughly twelve years, the volume boards stop working the way they did — the roles are fewer, less often advertised, and more often filled through a consultant or a referral. This is where to spend the time instead.

  • iimjobs ↗

    Mid-to-senior management roles across banking and finance, consulting, analytics, sales and marketing, HR and operations.

    Cost: Free to register, search and apply. Paid candidate subscriptions exist and are priced openly: Early Applicant at ₹1,499 for six months, Resume Builder at ₹1,999 for six months, with a discount for buying both.

    Tip: Their own FAQ is refreshingly direct that a subscription does not guarantee interview calls. Buy the Early Applicant access only if you have found that you are consistently applying late to roles you wanted.

  • LinkedIn ↗

    Senior and management roles where a recruiter or hiring manager approaches you directly, plus company research before you apply.

    Cost: Free to use. LinkedIn Premium is the paid tier.

    Tip: At senior level the profile does more work than the applications. Make the headline describe the role you want next, not the one that just ended.

  • Michael Page India ↗

    Mid-to-senior permanent and contract roles placed through a consultant, across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.

    Cost: Free to candidates. Their own anti-scam page states it directly: Michael Page will never request direct payment from a candidate.

    Tip: Recruitment consultants are worth contacting before you need them. Register, then follow up with one named consultant in your function rather than the general inbox.

  • Korn Ferry ↗

    Executive and senior professional roles through a global search firm, with a public opportunities board.

    Cost: Free to candidates — this is retained search, paid for by the client.

    Tip: There is one global board rather than an India-specific one, so filter by location yourself.

  • ABC Consultants ↗

    CXO and leadership roles in India — operating since 1969.

    Cost: Free to candidates; this is an employer-paid search firm.

    Tip: The route in is registering into their leadership database rather than browsing listings. Treat it as a long-term placement, not a live application.

Tech-specific

Smaller pools, fresher listings, and in two cases a matching model where companies approach you rather than the other way round — which is the better shape when you are one of many strong candidates on the market at once.

  • Hirist ↗

    IT and technology roles in India — the tech sibling of iimjobs, under the same ownership.

    Cost: Free to search and apply. A paid Resume Builder subscription is sold separately.

    Tip: Note the domain: hirist.com redirects to hirist.tech, which is the current one.

    Hirist describes itself as India's number one IT job portal.

  • Instahyre ↗

    Engineering and product roles where companies approach matched candidates, rather than you mass-applying.

    Cost: Free to sign up, search and apply. The route to a premium profile documented on their own site is a referral programme — each friend who signs up makes your profile premium for a day.

    Tip: Complete the profile fully before you start applying. The matching is what does the work here, and it only works on what you have filled in.

  • Cutshort ↗

    AI-driven matching to Indian startup tech roles instead of manual applications.

    Cost: Free for candidates — their pricing page says so explicitly. All paid plans are employer-side.

    Tip: Set your expected range honestly here. The matching uses it, and an inflated number narrows your own results.

Startups

Worth a separate pass because startup roles are frequently never posted to the big boards at all, and because you often reach a founder directly rather than a screening layer.

  • Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent) ↗

    Direct applications to startup roles with founder-level visibility, including a substantial India inventory across Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and remote.

    Cost: Free for candidates. Their own help pages state that creating a profile and applying is always free.

    Tip: Apply with a short note rather than a bare profile. At this size, a founder is often reading it personally.

  • Y Combinator — Work at a Startup ↗

    Roles at Y Combinator-backed startups, with an India section and rupee salaries on the Indian listings.

    Cost: Free — one profile applies to many companies.

    Tip: One profile goes to every company you select, so the profile has to carry the whole application. Spend the time on it once.

  • Hasjob ↗

    Early-stage Indian startup roles and internships from the Hasgeek community.

    Cost: Free for candidates, and free for employers to post.

    Tip: Low volume and intern-heavy, and posts expire after 30 days — so everything you see is genuinely current. Check it weekly rather than setting an alert.

Remote roles that genuinely hire from India

Most global remote boards carry roles restricted to particular countries, which wastes a great deal of time. These three are worth the effort because India is either a first-class filter or an explicit target market.

  • Remote OK ↗

    Remote tech roles with published salary ranges — India is a first-class country filter on the site.

    Cost: Free to browse and apply. Remote OK Premium is a paid tier offering earlier access to listings.

    Tip: Use the India filter rather than the 'worldwide' one first. It is the difference between roles you can take and roles you cannot.

  • We Work Remotely ↗

    Broad remote roles well beyond engineering — customer success, sales, design and support all feature.

    Cost: Free to browse and apply; employers pay to post.

    Tip: Filter for the 'Anywhere in the World' tag. That is the pool actually open to an India-based applicant.

  • Turing ↗

    India-based senior developers seeking remote contract work with US companies, typically requiring a four-hour overlap with US time zones.

    Cost: Free for developers — their FAQ states the service is absolutely free for software developers who sign up.

    Tip: The company has moved well beyond straight developer placement into AI training and data work. Read what the current engagement actually involves before assuming it is a standard dev role.

Non-tech and frontline roles

A different market with different portals, and the one segment the standard listicles cover in a single line. If your next role is in sales, operations, delivery, field work or support, these are built for it.

  • Apna ↗

    Frontline and entry-level roles across Indian cities, built mobile-first.

    Cost: Free for job seekers.

    Tip: Built for the phone rather than the desktop — use the app if you are searching on the move.

  • WorkIndia ↗

    Blue-collar and entry-level hiring, with direct employer contact.

    Cost: Free for job seekers.

    Tip: Roles move fast here. Apply the day a listing appears rather than batching.

  • Job Hai ↗

    Skilled and semi-skilled frontline roles — delivery, telecalling, sales, data entry and driving. A Naukri Group company.

    Cost: Free for job seekers.

    Tip: Same group as Naukri, different market. Worth a separate profile rather than assuming your Naukri one carries across.

  • QuikrJobs ↗

    Local and blue-collar vacancies through Quikr's classifieds base.

    Cost: Free to browse.

    Tip: Strongest for genuinely local roles where commute is the deciding factor.

The government portal: National Career Service

Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India

The one portal that cannot charge you anything, and the one most people never open. In its own words: “NCS services are free of cost. NCS does not charge any fee at any stage of registration, job application, interview processing and other employment related services.”

  • Job search, domestic and international
  • Career counselling and mentoring
  • Skill development courses
  • Resume building and interview coaching
  • Model Career Centres and State Employment Exchanges
  • Job fairs, plus dedicated categories for healthcare, government, women, ex-servicemen and differently abled candidates
Register on NCS ↗Android app ↗iOS app ↗Helpline 1514

NCS warns that only www.ncs.gov.in is authentic, and that other parties fraudulently use the NCS logo.

Not getting calls from Naukri? Fix these first

Naukri already shows you three numbers, and almost nobody uses them: how many recruiter searches your profile appeared in, how many recruiters opened it, and how many contacted you. A drop between any two of those isolates a completely different problem — and the standard advice to “update your profile daily” only fixes one of the three.

Why am I not getting calls? Profile triage

Naukri already shows you three numbers. Enter them and this tells you which of the three possible problems you actually have — because the fix for each one is completely different.

Searches your profile showed up in, last 30 days.

Recruiters who opened your profile.

Calls, emails or messages you received.

Find all three on Naukri under your profile performance. Use the same 30-day window for each so the ratios mean something.

The notice-period field deserves its own paragraph

It is the single most commonly wrong field on a laid-off candidate's profile, and it costs the most. Naukri's own product documentation confirms that notice period is a structured field recruiters can search on, and that it appears on your profile preview. A layoff usually makes you an immediate joiner. If your profile still says ninety days because that is what your contract said, you are being filtered out of the urgent roles — which are the ones that close fastest and interview soonest. Change it today.

Two fields behave the same way and are worth checking in the same sitting: expected CTC, where a figure well above the band removes you before anybody weighs your experience, and your phone number and email, because a recruiter who tries once and fails does not try again.

Is the paid subscription worth it?

Naukri's paid services live at resume.naukri.com and cover resume writing by career stage, visual resume, cover letter, certifications, resume spotlight and transition services. Resume Spotlight marks you as a featured candidate in recruiter search and refreshes your resume weekly so it appears at the top of results, for a three- or six-month term. Naukri itself states: “Naukri.com does not guarantee interview calls or job placement on buying these services.” Diagnose before you buy. Paid visibility helps if your problem is that you are not appearing in searches. If recruiters are already opening your profile and stopping, more visibility buys you more of the same outcome.

Job search for experienced professionals (15+ years)

Above roughly fifteen years the volume boards stop working the way they used to, and candidates who keep applying harder on them conclude the market has turned against them. The market has not — the channel has. Senior roles are fewer, less often advertised, and far more often filled through a consultant or a referral.

Referrals and alumni first, boards last

At this level a warm introduction is not a shortcut, it is the main channel. Former colleagues who have moved on are the highest-yield list you own — they know your work and they are inside companies that are hiring.

Build the referral list

Global capability centres

NASSCOM and Zinnov count 2,117 GCCs in India employing about 2.36 million people as of FY2026 (March 2026), with 506 Forbes Global 2000 companies running one here. If your experience is international, this is the most natural landing place — the work, the tooling and often the reporting line are global.

Consultants, retained search and interim roles

Register with two or three consultants in your function rather than twenty across the market, and follow up with a named person. Interim and consulting engagements are also worth taking seriously: they pay now, they keep the record continuous, and they convert to permanent more often than people expect.

Be honest with yourself about the pay reset

Decide your real floor before the first conversation rather than discovering it in the fourth. A senior search that stalls for six months over a number you would eventually have accepted is the most expensive kind of stall — and a candidate who is clear about their range is easier to place than one who deflects.

Moving back to India after a US layoff: job search timing

The question everybody asks in the wrong order is whether to search before or after flying back. The better question is what your visa clock allows, because that decides the rest.

Start the India search before you leave, not after

Indian interview processes for senior roles routinely run four to eight weeks, and starting them from the US costs you nothing but early mornings. Landing with three live processes is a completely different position from landing with none.

Know your US clock first

If you are on an H-1B, the discretionary grace period after your employment ends runs up to 60 days or to the end of your authorised validity period, whichever is shorter — and you may not work during it. That window, not your preference, decides whether staying to search is even an option.

H-1B options after a layoff

Interview time zones are a solved problem — say so

Offer early-morning or late-evening India slots explicitly in your first reply rather than waiting to be asked. Recruiters drop overseas candidates over scheduling friction far more often than over the candidate.

What Indian employers will ask about the US exit

When you can join, whether the move is permanent, what your expectations are in rupees, and why the role ended. Have the pay-reset answer settled before the first call — hesitating on it reads as uncertainty about whether you will stay, which is the real worry behind the question.

Build your layoff answer

Tax residency: get advice, do not improvise

Your Indian tax position for the year depends on how many days you spend where, and moving mid-year makes it genuinely complicated. It is a question for someone who does this professionally, and it is worth asking before you book the flight rather than after.

nritousa.com ↗

Before you join: settle your exit first

Background verification in India routinely confirms your dates and often your exit reason directly with your previous employer, which means an unresolved exit becomes a problem at the worst possible moment — after you have accepted an offer and resigned from nothing to fall back on. Deal with it while you are searching, not after.

Exit documents checklistEverything to send and to chase, with the deadline on each.Relieving letterRequest it, chase it, and what to do if it is refused.Experience letterWhat it must contain — and it is the one verification actually checks.Full and final settlementWhen it is due and how to chase it when it is not paid.PF: withdraw or transferUsually transfer. Check your date of exit is marked against your UAN.Notice recovery demandIf they say you owe notice pay, what they can actually recover.

Two official portals worth opening in the same sitting: EPFO — UAN Member e-Sewa ↗ — Log in with your UAN to transfer PF, check the passbook, and confirm your date of exit is marked. And Skill India Digital Hub ↗ — Free government-backed skilling courses, plus apprenticeship and job leads.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the best job portal in India?+
There is no single best one — the right portal depends on what you are looking for. Naukri has the broadest experienced-hire coverage and is the database most Indian recruiters search first, so it is the one profile that must be right. For management roles above roughly twelve years, iimjobs and recruitment consultants matter more than volume boards. For tech, Instahyre and Cutshort use a matching model where companies approach you. For frontline roles, Apna, WorkIndia and Job Hai are built for that market in a way the white-collar boards are not. And the National Career Service is free, government-run, and cannot charge you at any stage.
Why am I not getting calls from Naukri?+
Because one of three different things is happening, and they need different fixes. Either you are not appearing in recruiter searches at all — a completeness, recency and keywords problem. Or you appear but nobody opens your profile — a headline and designation problem. Or recruiters open it and stop — usually the notice period field, the expected CTC, or unverified contact details. Naukri shows you all three numbers under profile performance. The triage tool on this page reads them and tells you which problem you have.
Should I change my notice period on Naukri after a layoff?+
Yes, and it is one of the highest-value minutes you will spend. Naukri's own product documentation confirms that notice period is a structured field recruiters can search on, and that it is displayed on your profile preview. A layoff usually makes you an immediate joiner. If the field still says 90 days from your last job, you are being filtered out of precisely the urgent roles you could start tomorrow — and those are the ones that move fastest.
Is Naukri paid subscription worth it?+
Only for a specific problem. Naukri's paid services sit at resume.naukri.com, and the most relevant one is Resume Spotlight, which marks you as a featured candidate in recruiter search and refreshes your resume weekly so it appears near the top. Naukri itself states it does not guarantee interview calls or job placement. Diagnose first: if your problem is that recruiters open your profile and then stop, paying for more visibility buys you more of the same rejection.
How do I find a job in India after being laid off?+
Fix the profile before you increase the applications, because in India a large share of hiring starts with a recruiter searching a database rather than with you applying. Get your Naukri profile complete, current, keyword-loaded and honest about your notice period; register on the National Career Service, which is free; work your alumni and former-colleague network for referrals; and if you have fifteen years or more, spend your time on consultants and global capability centres rather than on volume boards. Settle your exit paperwork in parallel — background verification will check it.
What do Indian employers ask about a US layoff?+
Mostly practical things: when you are available to join, whether you are returning permanently, what your expectations are now that you are being paid in rupees, and why the role ended. Background verification will independently confirm the dates and often the exit reason with your US employer, so the version you say out loud has to match your paperwork. Have a clear, unapologetic answer for the pay reset in particular — it comes up in almost every conversation and hesitating on it reads as uncertainty about whether you will stay.
How many global capability centres are there in India?+
NASSCOM and Zinnov put the number at 2,117 GCCs, operating 3,728 centres and employing about 2.36 million people, as of FY2026 (March 2026). More than 1,200 of them already run AI or machine learning capability, and 506 Forbes Global 2000 companies operate one in India. For someone with international experience this is the most natural landing place, because the work, the tooling and often the reporting line are global.
Do I need a relieving letter to join a new company in India?+
Often yes — background verification in India routinely stalls on it, which is why employers treat it as the decisive document. But it is not the only way to establish the same facts. Your resignation or termination email and its acknowledgement, final payslips, Form 16, salary credits on your bank statement, and your EPF passbook showing the contribution history and marked date of exit together prove what a relieving letter proves. Tell your new employer early rather than letting a verification agency discover it.

Next

What to do next

  1. 1

    Fix the three fields that are costing you calls today

    Notice period, expected CTC and your contact details. Ten minutes, and they are the fields that remove you before anybody reads your experience.

    Run the profile triage
  2. 2

    Register on the National Career Service

    Free, government-run, and it cannot charge you at any stage of registration, application or interview processing.

    ncs.gov.in(opens in a new tab)
  3. 3

    Chase the exit paperwork while you search

    Verification will check your dates and often your exit reason. An unresolved relieving letter is far cheaper to fix now than after you have accepted an offer.

    Exit documents checklist

Sources & methodology

Every portal on this page was opened and checked on 16 September 2026, and the free-or-paid line for each is that company's own, taken from its own pricing or FAQ pages. Company marketing claims are attributed to the company. No traffic, user-count or ranking figure appears anywhere on this page, because no independent one is available for any Indian portal. Statements about how Naukri behaves are limited to what Naukri documents publicly.

  1. National Career Service — Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of IndiaThat NCS is run by the Ministry of Labour & Employment and charges no fee at any stage, and the list of jobseeker services. · Last verified Sep 16, 2026
  2. Hire faster with notice period search — Naukri Product Team, recruiterzone.naukri.comThat notice period is a structured field recruiters can search on, and is displayed on the candidate's profile preview. · Last verified Sep 16, 2026
  3. Naukri jobseeker FAQ — creating and completing your profile — Naukri.com (Info Edge India)That profiles and applications are free; that each field carries a weight toward completeness; that recruiters often contact recently updated profiles; and the photo figure, which is Naukri's own claim. · Last verified Sep 16, 2026
  4. GCC Landscape in India 2026, nasscom & Zinnov — nasscom & ZinnovThat India had 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 centres, employing about 2.36 million people, as of FY2026 (March 2026). · Last verified Sep 16, 2026
  5. 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) — period of stay — Electronic Code of Federal RegulationsThe H-1B discretionary grace period of up to 60 days or the end of the authorised validity period, whichever is shorter, during which the worker may not work. · Last verified Sep 16, 2026
Deepak Middha, Founder of LayoffNext

Written and reviewed by Deepak Middha, Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) and founder of LayoffNext.

Legal and tax positions last checked 17 September 2026Editorial standards
Deepak Middha, Founder of LayoffNext
Founder of LayoffNext

Deepak Middha is the founder of LayoffNext and a Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India). A U.S. immigrant with nearly 20 years of experience — and 17 years in hedge fund and private equity administration, including as Vice President of Fund Accounting at NAV Fund Administration Group and Associate Director of Private Equity and Real Estate at SS&C Technologies — he builds free, plain-language layoff tools and guides for employees, H-1B workers, and immigrant families.

Updated September 17, 2026
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