Synopsis
Entry-level openings, i.e. roles targeting candidates with up to two years of experience, are flat at 15,000 for the second consecutive month, but are down nearly 11% year on year, giving jitters to freshers, the report said. Fresher-friendly roles account for barely 14% of total demand, with mid-senior professionals continuing to corner the lion's share at 54%.Entry-level openings, i.e. roles targeting candidates with up to two years of experience, are flat at 15,000 for the second consecutive month, but are down nearly 11% year on year, giving jitters to freshers, the report said. Fresher-friendly roles account for barely 14% of total demand, with mid-senior professionals continuing to corner the lion's share at 54%.
In terms of the broader market, FY27 has recorded the second-lowest fiscal-year opening in active tech demand over the past six years. Fresh hiring is being further beaten down by what the report calls "knee-jerk reactions to global events."
"Post the hiring buoyancy of 2021, the Indian tech sector has not had a period of stability extending beyond a quarter. The sector continues to be periodically hit by global events and occurrences in key client markets. As a manpower dependent sector, frequent shakeups and resultant instability has long-term impact on the workforce and future talent pools," Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth said in the report.
The tech sector's contribution to India's total active talent demand has also slipped back below 50% for the first time since December 2025, settling at 49%.
The IT services sector, which is the largest employer of tech talent in India, accounts for 43,000 of the 110,000 active openings. But this has fallen 7% both month-on-month and year-on-year, pointing to the ongoing stress on India's largest tech employment engine.
Global capability centres (GCCs), another major employer in India, saw an even steeper 21% month-on-month drop, settling at 15,000 openings.
The IT sector has seen subdued demand for talent over the past fiscal year. ET reported in January that the industry's top five companies added just 17 net employees in the first nine months of FY26, turning cautious. This compares with 17,764 net additions in the same period of the previous year.
Geographically, the traditional tech hubs are softening. Megacities collectively saw a 29% year-on-year decline, with Delhi NCR falling the sharpest at 41%, the report said. Tier-II and tier-III cities, by contrast, grew 10% year-on-year.
The report, however, also showed that April 2026's demand is still 7% higher than it was in April 2025, suggesting the market hasn't gone into reverse overall.
