India’s tech hiring demand drops 24% year-on-year to start 2026, says Xpheno
India’s technology job market opened 2026 with a sharp dip in demand, as active job openings fell 24% year-on-year to roughly 103,000 roles, according to staffing firm Xpheno. The report indicates sluggish hiring momentum persisted from late 2025, with senior hiring weakening even as some entry-level roles showed marginal improvement.
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A colder hiring market for tech talent
India’s tech sector started 2026 with lower hiring demand, with active job openings reported to be down 24% from a year earlier. According to The Economic Times, specialist staffing firm Xpheno pegged active tech job demand at about 103,000 roles, describing it as among the weakest levels seen since early 2021. The data points to a market that has not meaningfully recovered from a slow 2025, despite periodic optimism around fresh project cycles and budget resets.
The report indicated demand also slipped slightly month-on-month into January 2026, suggesting the slowdown is not just a base effect from last year but a continuation of subdued intent. In hiring cycles, January often reflects both new-year planning and the first read on client pipelines; a weak January can therefore influence wage expectations, campus hiring volumes and lateral movement through the first half of the year.
Where the weakness is concentrated
Xpheno’s reading, as reported by ET, suggests mid-senior and senior hiring has softened more than entry-level roles. That pattern often aligns with a cautious spending environment in which companies keep fresher intake steady for long-term pipelines but slow down experienced hiring tied to immediate expansion plans. The implication for jobseekers is a more competitive market for leadership and specialist roles, with longer interview cycles and tighter budgets.
The report also contrasted current demand with the peak period of early 2022, when openings were far higher. This gap is important: it indicates that the sector has moved from a ‘scarcity of talent’ phase to a ‘selective demand’ phase, where employers can be more specific about skills, domain experience and cost.
What to watch next
Hiring demand in India’s tech industry is closely tied to global IT spending, deal wins by large services firms, and investment cycles in product companies and startups. Any sustained recovery would typically show up first in an improvement in active openings, followed by faster offer rollouts. Until then, candidates may see more emphasis on niche skills, strong delivery track records and flexibility on location or compensation.
In a soft market, demand doesn’t disappear—it becomes pickier, slower and more sensitive to cost and proven impact.
For employers, the flip side is that a cooler hiring cycle can improve access to talent that was hard to secure during boom periods. For the broader ecosystem, however, persistent softness could reduce overall job creation from tech—an industry that has often been a major contributor to white-collar employment growth in India.