The tech sector hiring in India has been experiencing a lull since 2023.
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The active tech talent demand in India seems to continue its downward slide. According to specialist staffing firm Xpheno’s Active Tech Jobs Outlook report for June, the month’s demand outlook has hit a record 28-month low.
The report reveals a sharp 14% month-on-month (MoM) drop in active tech job openings owing to developments in, and from the US. This is the biggest MoM drop seen over the last 12 months.
Market for mid-seniors
The tech sector hiring in India has been experiencing a lull since 2023.
Currently, the sector has 93,000 active tech job openings, as per the Xpheno report. The largest concentration of openings at 46,000 is at mid-senior levels.
The sector’s current contribution to total active talent demand stands at 44%, continuing below the 50% mark for the third consecutive month.
Increasing number of US returnees
“Certain pools of tech talent on H-1B in the US are staring at the risk of repatriating to India with recent developments. Considering the current dynamics and trends of active demand in the Indian job market, this is definitely not the best of times for US-settled H-1B talent to return to India. After the hiring buoyancy of 2021, the Indian tech sector has not had a period of stability extending beyond a quarter,” according to the report.
The sector continues to be periodically hit by global events and occurrences in key client markets, and this is reflected in the declining trajectory, it adds.
The report observes a rise in the number of returnees to India from the US.
“It would not be surprising if the recent H1B move causes the returnees count to surpass the count of outbound tech talent to the US this year,” according to the report.
ITeS, GCC demand drop
While demand from the IT Services sector has dropped 16% on MoM basis, that from GCCs has dropped by 6% compared to the previous month. However, the GCC sector has registered a 31% year-on-year (YoY) growth in tech talent demand.
Entry-level opportunities for professionals with up to two years of experience have recorded a 44% YoY decline, with only 10,000 openings in June 2026 as against 13,000 in May 2026.
WFH receives sluggish response
Despite the PM’s appeal to companies to encourage ‘work from home’ amid rising fuel prices and LPG crisis, 70% of all active tech openings in the market are full-time work-from-office openings.
However, the report shows that the work-from-office demand dropped 16% compared to the previous month as well as on a YoY basis. While full-time remote openings have grown 8% compared to the previous month, they dropped by 13% compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Full-time hybrid openings have dropped 22% MoM, and 26% YoY.
Published – June 01, 2026 02:51 pm IST
