Report: India’s tech hiring demand drops 24% year-on-year at the start of 2026
A new labour-market reading suggests India’s tech hiring started 2026 on a weaker footing, with active job openings down 24% from a year earlier. The report indicates softer demand in mid-senior and senior roles even as entry-level hiring shows pockets of resilience.
India’s technology sector entered 2026 with a marked slowdown in hiring, with active tech job openings falling 24% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to findings cited by The Economic Times from staffing firm Xpheno. The reported level of demand, around 1.03 lakh open roles, is described as among the lowest since 2021.
The outlook follows an extended period of muted recruitment through 2025, with the data indicating that hiring appetite has not meaningfully recovered. The report also points to a month-on-month dip, suggesting that the market has not yet found a clear bottom as companies manage costs and plan headcount cautiously.
One key pattern highlighted is the uneven distribution across experience bands. While entry-level opportunities have shown limited improvement in some pockets, demand for mid-senior and senior roles has reportedly weakened, which can be a sign of slower project pipelines and fewer leadership-level expansions in teams.
For India’s IT services-heavy ecosystem, the current phase reflects pressure from global clients that are spending carefully amid macro uncertainty and shifting priorities such as cloud optimisation, AI pilots, and selective modernisation. When discretionary tech budgets tighten, companies often delay lateral hiring and focus on utilisation of existing teams.
For job-seekers, the near-term takeaway is that hiring may be more competitive, with stronger screening and a premium on in-demand skills. Employers, meanwhile, may continue to prioritise critical roles tied to revenue delivery, cybersecurity, data engineering and targeted AI deployments rather than broad-based expansion.
The trajectory for the rest of 2026 will depend on whether new deal flow improves and whether firms regain confidence to convert cautious ‘intent’ into actual hiring. Until then, the data suggests a market where opportunities exist but are tighter and more selective than the boom conditions of early 2022.