Tech jobs in India rise 17% to 1.23 Lakh in October, highest in 18 months

India’s technology job market continued its recovery in October, with active tech openings rising to 123,000, the highest level in 18 months, according to staffing firm Xpheno’s Active Tech Jobs Outlook – India for October 2026. The figure was 17% higher than a year earlier and 5% above September, extending a recovery that began after the market hit a record low in June.

The rebound is being driven primarily by IT services, where active openings climbed to 66,000, up 57% year on year and 16% from September. However, the recovery is not evenly distributed across the technology sector: companies are showing a stronger preference for experienced professionals, AI-related capabilities and office-based roles, while software-product and funded-startup hiring remains below last year’s levels.

Key takeaways

• India had 123,000 active technology job openings in October 2026.
• Active tech demand increased 17% year on year and 5% month on month.
• IT services accounted for 66,000 openings, up 57% YoY.
• GCCs had 18,000 openings, 64% higher than a year earlier.
• Mid-senior roles accounted for 68,000 openings, or 55% of total demand.
• Full-time positions represented 76% of openings.
• Work-from-office roles accounted for 81% of active tech openings.
• Bengaluru remained the largest technology hiring market with 31,000 openings.
• Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities recorded 40,000 openings, up 67% YoY.
• Core technology and engineering roles remained the largest functional category with 61,000 openings.

India’s tech hiring recovery gathers momentum

The 123,000 active openings mark a significant improvement from the weakness seen earlier in 2026.

Xpheno’s data shows that active technology demand increased 5% between September and October and 17% from October 2025. The October figure represents the fourth month of recovery after the technology employment market reached its lowest level of the year in June.

Importantly, the Xpheno figure represents active job openings, rather than the number of people actually hired.

The staffing firm’s methodology counts positions published directly by employers that remain active, have been refreshed or are accepting applications during the reporting period. Recruitment mandates and openings routed through recruitment and staffing agencies are excluded.

That distinction matters because 123,000 openings should not be interpreted as 123,000 new jobs already created. Instead, the number provides a snapshot of employer demand for technology talent.

IT services drives the rebound

IT services companies are playing the biggest role in the recovery.

The segment recorded 66,000 active openings in October, its highest level in 18 months. Demand increased 16% from September and 57% compared with October 2025.

Xpheno co-founder Kamal Karanth attributed the increase to stronger demand for AI engineering, analyst and technical leadership positions.

The shift is significant for India’s traditional IT-services industry. Large technology-services companies spent much of the recent period managing cautious client spending, automation and changing demand for traditional software services. The October numbers suggest that some of that hiring caution is easing.

At the same time, the composition of demand indicates that companies are not simply returning to the broad-based hiring patterns seen during earlier technology booms.

Instead, employers appear to be prioritising people who can work with AI, analyse business problems, lead technical teams and apply digital technologies to existing business processes.

GCC hiring remains structurally strong

Global Capability Centres, or GCCs, continued to provide another important source of technology employment.

GCCs recorded 18,000 active technology openings in October. That was unchanged from September but 64% higher than October 2025. GCC-related technology hiring represented approximately 15% of India’s total active technology demand.

GCCs are offshore or global operating centres established by multinational companies to perform functions such as technology development, analytics, finance, research, engineering and other specialised activities.

Their continued expansion is important because GCC hiring tends to involve relatively sophisticated technology and business roles.

The October data therefore suggests that India’s appeal as a location for higher-value technology work remains intact even while some traditional outsourcing segments are adjusting to AI and automation.

Software companies and startups tell a different story

Not every part of India’s technology ecosystem experienced the same recovery.

Software-product companies recorded 16,000 active openings in October, down 16% from September and 38% from a year earlier.

Funded technology startups had 12,000 openings. That figure was unchanged from September but remained 29% below October 2025.

The divergence highlights an important feature of the current technology employment market.

Established IT-services companies and GCCs are increasing hiring as enterprise technology spending and AI-related projects generate new requirements. Meanwhile, startups and software-product companies remain more selective about workforce expansion.

For technology workers, this means that the headline recovery in job openings does not necessarily translate into an equally strong recovery across every employer category.

Experienced professionals are benefiting most

The strongest hiring demand is concentrated among experienced professionals.

Mid-senior roles accounted for 68,000 openings in October, representing 55% of all active technology jobs. Demand for these roles increased 6% month on month and 19% year on year.

Entry-level openings stood at 15,000. Although that was 15% higher than a year earlier, entry-level demand fell 6% from September.

Mid-junior roles recorded 7,000 openings, increasing 40% month on month and 17% year on year.

This creates a mixed picture for fresh graduates and people trying to enter the technology industry.

The market is recovering, but companies appear to be placing a greater emphasis on candidates who can contribute with existing technical or functional experience.

The entry-level market remains competitive

The latest data reinforces a trend that has become increasingly important in India’s technology sector: a recovery in hiring does not necessarily mean a return to mass entry-level recruitment.

Businesses are investing in AI, cloud, data and digital transformation, but they also want employees who can apply those technologies quickly.

This increases the value of practical skills, project experience and specialised capabilities.

For freshers, learning a programming language alone may therefore not be enough. Employers are increasingly likely to value candidates who can demonstrate that they can build applications, work with data, use AI development tools or solve practical business problems.

Earlier Xpheno data had already shown that employers were prioritising AI, cloud and digital capabilities while maintaining a strong preference for mid-senior and senior professionals.

Full-time employment remains dominant

The October recovery is also largely a full-time hiring recovery.

Xpheno recorded 93,000 full-time technology openings, representing 76% of total active demand. Full-time openings increased 3% month on month and 11% year on year.

Contract roles stood at 4,000 and increased 33% from September, although they remained 33% below the year-earlier level.

Internship and part-time openings also stood at approximately 4,000. That category increased 33% month on month and was 95% higher than a year earlier.

The data suggests that the recovery is not being driven primarily by short-term or temporary work.

Instead, employers are again creating substantial demand for permanent technology employees, although the skills and experience they seek are changing.

Work-from-office jobs surge

One of the clearest changes in the October data is the strong preference for office-based work.

Full-time work-from-office openings reached 100,000, accounting for 81% of all active technology openings. WFO demand increased 9% month on month and 32% year on year.

By comparison, remote openings fell to 10,000, down 9% from September and 23% from a year earlier.

Hybrid positions stood at 13,000, declining 7% month on month and 19% year on year.

This represents a major change in the structure of technology hiring.

The technology sector became one of the largest adopters of remote work during the pandemic. Companies subsequently moved toward hybrid arrangements and, increasingly, office attendance for particular teams.

The October data suggests that the latest hiring recovery is happening alongside an even stronger shift toward physical workplaces.

For candidates, this could affect both job location and salary expectations, particularly in India’s major technology hubs.

Bengaluru remains India’s biggest technology hiring market

Bengaluru remained the country’s largest technology hiring centre in October, with 31,000 active openings.

The city recorded an 11% increase from September, although its openings were still 11% below the level seen a year earlier.

Hyderabad followed with 14,000 openings and recorded the strongest month-on-month growth among the major technology markets, at 27%.

Delhi NCR had 9,000 openings, Chennai 8,000, while Mumbai and Pune each had approximately 6,000.

Across the six major technology hubs, active demand reached 83,000 openings, representing 67% of the national total. Combined demand across these cities rose 9% month on month.

Smaller cities are growing faster

The more interesting geographic development is occurring outside India’s traditional technology hubs.

Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities accounted for 40,000 active technology openings in October. While demand in these cities fell 2% month on month, it was 67% higher than a year earlier.

That growth rate substantially exceeded the 17% national increase.

The trend suggests that India’s technology labour market is gradually becoming more geographically distributed.

Lower operating costs, improved digital infrastructure, the expansion of GCCs and the availability of engineering talent are helping companies consider locations beyond Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi NCR.

For smaller cities, the development could create a broader technology employment ecosystem rather than limiting opportunities to traditional outsourcing centres.

Core technology and engineering still lead

Technology and engineering remained the largest functional category in October, with 61,000 openings, or roughly half of total active technology demand.

Demand in this category increased 5% month on month and 2% year on year.

But technology employment is increasingly extending beyond pure engineering.

Tech business development, sales and marketing accounted for 14,000 openings, up 8% from September and 17% year on year.

Technology consulting and advisory roles reached 5,000 openings, increasing 25% from September.

Other technology functions accounted for 40,000 openings and recorded 60% year-on-year growth, while IT project management contributed another 3,000 openings.

The implication is that India’s technology hiring recovery is becoming broader than software development.

Companies need people who can sell technology, advise customers, manage projects and translate technical capabilities into business outcomes.

AI is changing what companies hire for

Artificial intelligence is one of the central forces behind the changing hiring mix.

The increase in IT-services demand is specifically being supported by AI engineering, analyst and technical leadership positions, according to Xpheno.

The significance is not that AI is simply creating a separate category of jobs. Rather, AI is increasingly becoming a skill requirement within existing technology roles.

Earlier Xpheno reporting cited by Business Standard showed that software-development postings mentioning AI had increased sharply between the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2026, even as overall software-development postings remained broadly flat.

This suggests companies are changing the skill composition of technology hiring rather than simply increasing headcount across every traditional role.

That distinction is likely to remain important as enterprises adopt generative AI, AI agents and automated software-development tools.

The job market is becoming fresher

Another positive signal comes from Xpheno’s freshness index.

The index, which measures openings published or refreshed during the preceding two weeks, reached 49% in October. That was three percentage points higher than September and six percentage points above October 2025.

In practical terms, almost half of the active openings were relatively recent or had recently been refreshed.

This is useful because a large pool of old job postings can make headline hiring numbers look stronger than actual employer activity.

The higher freshness reading therefore provides additional evidence that at least part of October’s increase reflects current hiring demand rather than inactive listings remaining online.

Is India’s technology job recovery sustainable?

The October data provides encouraging evidence of a recovery, but it is too early to conclude that India has entered another technology hiring boom.

The strongest evidence is the breadth of improvement across IT services, GCCs, experienced professionals, full-time roles and smaller cities. The 17% annual increase also comes after a weak period, meaning part of the growth represents recovery from depressed hiring levels.

There are still warning signs.

Software-product hiring is down sharply from a year ago, funded startup openings remain below 2025 levels and entry-level positions are not growing as quickly as experienced roles.

The continued adoption of AI also means that some traditional technology work may become more productive with fewer employees.

The likely outcome is therefore not simply more technology jobs, but a technology labour market where the mix of jobs changes rapidly.

The bigger picture

India’s technology employment market appears to be moving away from the hiring slowdown of early 2026, with 123,000 active openings marking an 18-month high. IT services have emerged as the main engine of the recovery, while GCCs continue to expand and smaller cities are capturing a growing share of demand.

But the nature of the recovery is just as important as its size. Employers are favouring experienced professionals, AI-enabled skills, full-time employees and office-based work. That means the next phase of India’s technology hiring cycle may reward specialised and immediately deployable talent more than broad-based hiring.

Looking ahead

The next few months will determine whether October’s increase becomes a sustained hiring cycle. Continued growth in enterprise technology spending, AI implementation, cloud adoption and GCC expansion could keep demand elevated, while weaker global growth or further automation could limit the pace of recruitment.

For technology professionals, the signal is relatively clear: India’s tech market is hiring again, but the definition of a desirable technology worker is changing. AI engineering, data, cloud, technical leadership, consulting and business-facing technology skills are likely to remain important as companies seek people who can turn technology investment into measurable business results.