Indian tech hiring down 24% YoY in Jan 2026: Xpheno report

India’s technology sector welcomed the new year on a sombre note, with hiring demand at its weakest in four years, underscoring a prolonged slowdown that began in late 2022 with barely any signs of a broad-based recovery. 

According to Xpheno’s Active Tech Jobs Outlook – India, January 2026, there were approximately 103,000 active tech job openings in the first month of the new year, marking a 1% month-on-month (MoM) dip and a 24% decline compared with January 2025. Active demand is now roughly 60% below peak levels of early 2022, when hiring volumes crossed 260,000 roles.

Kamal Karanth, co-founder of talent solutions firm Xpheno, said in a release that the sector “caught a cold” in 2022 and has struggled to regain momentum since, with only brief and unsustained periods of recovery.

The downturn, he said, has also eroded technology’s long-held position as the dominant contributor to India’s overall hiring activity, with the focus shifted to non-tech sectors over the past three years.

The data also shows uneven trends across cohorts.

IT services, the largest consumer of tech talent, reported 41,000 active openings, flat sequentially and 18% lower year-on-year (YoY), reflecting continued pressure from subdued global technology spending and uncertainty in key markets such as the US.

By contrast, global capability centres (GCCs) emerged as a relative bright spot. GCC tech hiring rose 13% MoM to 17,000 openings, and was 7% higher than a year ago, lifting its share to about 16% of total active tech demand.

Role composition also highlighted a cautious hiring stance. Mid-senior positions accounted for 56% of all openings but declined 5% from December, while entry-level roles grew 8% MoM to 14,000 openings, even as they remained 18% below year-ago levels.

Geographically, demand remained concentrated in major technology hubs, with megacities accounting for about 63% of openings, though this segment has seen a 49% YoY decline.

In contrast, tier-2, 3 locations recorded a 30% annual increase, indicating a gradual redistribution of tech hiring beyond traditional centres.

Full-time remote roles accounted for about 9% of active tech openings in January 2026, with roughly 9,000 work-from-home jobs, down 10% MoM and 11% YoY.

In contrast, work-from-office roles dominated hiring, making up over 70% of demand at around 73,000 openings, while hybrid roles stood at about 21,000, also declining both sequentially and annually.

Xpheno noted that early indicators for 2026 do not yet point to a strong turnaround, with a sustained recovery closely tied to improved conditions and renewed hiring aggression within the IT services sector.

The report tracked a curated count of active tech job openings directly posted by employers over a four-week period. It included tier-1, 2 Indian IT companies, tech SMEs, and startups. The company clarified that the data excludes roles advertised solely through recruitment or staffing agencies and reflects demand signals rather than actual hiring outcomes.

Xpheno explained that typically, 70–80% of job openings are published publicly, while 20–25% are filled internally, particularly in large companies. From a candidate’s perspective, job portals and company career pages generally display the same set of openings, amounting to approximately 103,000–104,000 active positions.

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