India’s tech hiring stays cautious as 2026 begins

India’s technology sector has entered 2026 with little sign of a hiring rebound. Active tech job openings are projected at about 103,000 in January, marking a 1% decline from December and a sharp 24% fall year-on-year, according to staffing firm Xpheno’s latest Active Tech Jobs Outlook report published on Friday.

Active tech job openings are estimated at around 103,000 in January 2026, a 1% decline over December and a sharp 24% drop compared to January last year, according to the report.

The marginal month-on-month dip masks a deeper structural slowdown. Active tech demand is now nearly 60% lower than its January–February 2022 peak, when hiring surged past 260,000 openings during the post-pandemic expansion phase.

“The tech sector was the first to recover after covid, but also the first to roll back sharply once macro headwinds hit,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno. “Since late 2022, recovery has been weak and short-lived, with no sustained rebound in volumes.”

Tech’s grip on hiring weakens

The report highlights a significant shift in India’s hiring mix. While tech roles currently account for 52% of total active job openings, this is only the second time in more than three years that the sector has crossed the 50% mark. Since 2022, non-tech sectors have consistently contributed the majority of active hiring, reducing tech’s traditional dominance in the labour market.
January 2026 also marks the second-lowest level of tech hiring recorded in the past five years, underscoring the depth and duration of the slowdown.

Full-time roles dominate, but demand slides

Despite the cautious outlook, companies continue to prefer full-time hiring. Full-time roles account for nearly 76% of active tech openings, at about 79,000 positions. However, this segment declined 5% month-on-month and is 24% lower year-on-year, reflecting muted hiring confidence.

Contract roles rose sharply on a sequential basis, but from a low base, while internships and part-time roles remained subdued, with year-on-year declines ranging between 21% and 26%.

Hiring momentum also softened, with the freshness index—jobs posted or refreshed within two weeks—falling to 39% in January from 42% in December, indicating slower hiring action as enterprises remain cautious at the start of the year.
Senior hiring weak; entry-level shows limited resilience

The pressure is most visible at the experienced end of the talent pyramid. Mid-senior roles, which make up over half of active tech openings, declined 5% sequentially and are 12% lower than a year ago. Senior-level hiring remained flat month-on-month but dropped 22% year-on-year.
Entry-level hiring offered a limited bright spot. Openings for professionals with up to two years of experience rose 8% month-on-month to about 14,000 roles. However, volumes remain 18% below January 2025 levels, indicating that the recovery remains narrow and fragile.

Read more: Rewind 2025: India’s tech hiring turns inward, with fewer hires, sharper skills

IT services struggle; GCCs emerge as a relative bright spot

India’s IT services firms, the largest consumers of tech talent, continue to remain under pressure. Active hiring from the cohort stood at 41,000 openings, unchanged from December but 18% lower year-on-year, reflecting weak global tech spending and continued uncertainty in key markets such as the US.

In contrast, global capability centres (GCCs) showed relative resilience. Tech hiring by GCCs rose 13% month-on-month and 7% year-on-year, reinforcing their role as one of the few growth engines within the tech hiring ecosystem.

Read more: Top trends that defined India’s GCC story in 2025

Core engineering demand contracts sharply

Functionally, tech and engineering roles account for nearly 58% of all active openings, but demand in this core segment has fallen 37% compared to last year, highlighting how deeply the slowdown has affected even foundational technology roles.
Associated functions such as tech consulting, project management and tech sales also saw month-on-month declines, though some categories posted modest year-on-year growth.

Hiring shifts beyond metros

Geographically, megacities continue to account for about 63% of tech openings, but volumes in these hubs have dropped nearly 50% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities saw a 30% rise in tech hiring, reflecting cost optimisation strategies and gradual decentralisation of talent.

The study further shows that office-based roles remain dominant. Work-from-office positions account for over 70% of active tech openings, while remote and hybrid roles declined further, reinforcing an office-first approach even amid lower overall demand.

Outlook remains muted

With recovery closely tied to the fortunes of IT services firms and global demand cycles, 2026 is unlikely to see a broad-based revival in tech hiring. Growth, where it exists, is expected to remain selective—driven largely by GCCs, entry-level roles and non-metro locations rather than a sector-wide rebound.