GLOSSARY: A Cold Start to Tech Hiring in 2026

For years, India's IT sector was the undisputed engine of the country's talent market, at one point commanding a staggering 85% dominance of all active job openings.‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

A Cold Start to Tech Hiring in 2026

THE BELAMY

Weekly Newsletter of AIM

Monday, Jan 5, 2026 | By Prabhu Mallikarjunan

Now, subscribe to our Digital & Print Editions >

For years, India's IT sector was the undisputed engine of the country's talent market, at one point commanding a staggering 85% dominance of all active job openings. Campus recruitment and coder bootcamps helped in riding an endless growth cycle.

But as we step into the new year, the 'builder' energy celebrated just months ago is meeting a harsh statistical reality. The latest Xpheno Active Tech Jobs Outlook report reveals that India's tech hiring has caught a cold it simply cannot shake off.

As January 2026 begins, demand for active tech talent has plummeted by 24% year-on-year. What was once a peak of 2,62,000 active roles in early 2022 has now withered to just 1,03,000—a steep 60% drop from its golden era.

While the industry has recently buzzed with phrases like 'vibe coding' and AI orchestration, boardrooms are focused on a more sobering trajectory. IT services, the traditional engine of employment, remain stagnant at 41,000 active openings.

This is not a sudden freeze. It's a prolonged chill. As Xpheno co-founder Kamal Karanth bluntly puts it, the Indian tech sector caught a cold in late 2022 and has since struggled to recover.

The Slowdown Has Uneven Edges

Despite the chill, companies are still planting seeds. Entry-level hiring has edged up by 8% month-on-month. The pain remains concentrated in mid- to senior-level roles, where demand continues to soften.

A quiet geographic shift is also underway. While megacities still dominate tech employment, their hiring volumes are down nearly 50% year-on-year. In contrast, tier-2 and tier-3 cities have grown demand by 30%, pointing to a slower, more decentralised distribution of tech work.

What began as chatbots and copilots is now moving towards autonomous systems that are quietly eliminating friction across operations, cutting manual workloads by 30-50% in areas like approvals, analytics and customer workflows. On the NASSCOM AI Adoption Index, India scores 2.45 out of four, showing that 87% of enterprises are actively using AI solutions.

India's technology sector is expanding rapidly, with annual revenues projected to cross $280 billion this year. Over six million people are employed in the tech and AI ecosystem.

Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka noted recently that the company has hired over 12,000 freshers in the last six months, raised entry-level salaries and is offering packages of up to ₹21 lakh per annum for specialised tech roles.

At HCLTech, CEO C Vijayakumar framed talent transformation as central to the company's AI strategy, saying the firm's conviction in this approach is "stronger than ever" as it prepares for the next phase of growth. It revealed its advanced AI revenue crossed $100 million for the first time, accounting for approximately 3% of its revenue.

Wipro CHRO Saurabh Govil echoed similar optimism, highlighting net headcount growth, higher utilisation and continued hiring from both campuses and lateral markets as demand converts into revenue.

Will 2026 be any different for the tech sector? Xpheno says early indicators do not look encouraging, as a strong recovery in IT hiring depends heavily on the overall health and aggressiveness of the IT services cohort.

The Future of Work 2026: Empowering People with AI

AI is rapidly evolving from simple chatbots to autonomous systems that are reducing manual work by 30-50% across business operations. Snowflake and AIM bring you an exclusive webinar exploring key 2026 trends in human—AI collaboration, real-world business impact, such as faster approvals and improved sales efficiency, and strategies for workforce upskilling in an AI-driven era.

This thought-provoking session will feature insights from trailblazing technology leaders Sridevi Vadapalli, chief data scientist at Daimler Trucks Innovation Center India; Sudhakaran Selvaraj, delivery head – data engineering and data science at Ecolab; and Monika Kapoor, executive director, head of data and analytics at AstraZeneca.

In Other News

Grok Under Scrutiny

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has triggered international concern after reports of sexually explicit and abusive content circulating on X. Authorities in France and Australia have ordered probes into its misuse.

In India, the electronics and information technology ministry (MeitY) has issued a notice to X, citing violations of the IT Act, 2000 and IT Rules, 2021. The ministry has demanded immediate action against the generation and spread of obscene and derogatory AI-generated content, stressing that compliance is not optional.

Rajasthan to Unveil AI-ML Policy

Rajasthan is set to unveil its AI-ML Policy 2026 at a regional conclave in Jaipur on January 6. The policy focuses on "good governance and transparency" and proposes a dedicated AI data centre in Jaipur to automate government services and grievance redressal.

[AIM Network Exclusive]

For 50 years, the narrative was about brain drain. Today, it has changed. IIT Madras has launched the 'IITM Global' initiative with hubs across the US, Europe and Asia. This is no longer just university expansion; it is India's new diplomatic operating system, taking its premier education model to the world stage.

2026: The Year Software Engineering Will Become AI Native

Anand Sahay, global CEO at Xebia, said, "Xebia transformed AI into an enterprise operating layer. Software delivery, operations and data access were rebuilt with AI at the centre. What makes it unique is integration. AI runs across the lifecycle, acts autonomously and operates on unified, trusted enterprise data."

Dell x NVIDIA Developer Meetup

As AI moves from experimentation to real-world deployment, developers are increasingly grappling with practical questions around infrastructure, performance and workflows. An invite-only Dell x NVIDIA Developer Meetup, in association with AIM, on January 23, 2026 in Hyderabad, will bring together AI engineers, data scientists, enterprise teams, and leaders from Dell and NVIDIA to share applied perspectives on building beyond proofs of concept. Click here to register.