India’s $254-billion software services industry, traditionally the biggest recruiting sector at local engineering and management campuses, is expected to expand their collective payrolls by up to 12% in FY26, data sourced by ET from staffing firms showed. The industry’s headcount had shrunk in FY24.With projected business growth of 10-15% for the next fiscal year, India’s technology workforce is expected to expand by an additional 500,000 to 750,000 professionals, bringing the total to around 5.5–5.75 million by end of March 2025. The next financial year – FY26 – will further see an uptick in hiring of 10-12% from there, data from mass recruitment firm, Teamlease, showed.

Fresher hiring, which had slowed to a trickle over the past several quarters on mounting growth concerns in key revenue markets on either side of the Atlantic, is estimated to surpass 150,000, ET reported recently.

The resumption of hiring marks a significant turnaround for India’s most globalised industry, which dominates services outsourcing worldwide. Last fiscal ending March 2024, India’s IT industry shed a record 70,000 employees in total, with bellwethers such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCLTech focusing on margin protection and staff utilization amid a protracted uncertainty over orders in both North America and Europe.

The industry’s hiring intent signals demand revival for the people-led software services sector. Workforce addition is seen as a mark of increased spending budgets on technology by Fortune 500 companies that rely on Indian technology support. This is backed by the start of a rate-easing cycle in the US, and production-readiness for a greater number of generative artificial intelligence projects.

There is increased demand for digital transformation services such as cloud computing, AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning), cybersecurity, and data analytics, experts say.

Niche skillsDemand for specialised skills is on the rise, said Neeti Sharma, CEO, Teamlease Digital, as more global companies set up GCCs (global capability centres) in India. Greater focus on R&D (research & development), domain specificity, and emerging technology will also drive demand for specialists, she said.

HR chiefs at listed majors TCS and fourth-largest exporter Wipro told ET recently that both companies were deepening their talent reservoir to meet the expected growth. The hiring of freshers would be critical to sustaining sector growth and addressing workforce needs, they said.

In an interview this month, Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer, TCS, said that as growth prospects look brighter, the company would hire more freshers in FY26 than the committed 40,000 in FY25.

Wipro, too, had sounded more optimistic.

“As we see green shoots in the macro environment, our focus is to ensure there are no supply-side constraints on managing the demand that is going to come,” Saurabh Govil, chief human resources officer, Wipro, had told ET earlier this month.

Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing, expects IT services hiring to expand 10-12% in the next six months. The company’s November report, which made this forecast, also said emerging technologies like generative AI and quantum computing would create more than a million jobs by 2030.

The second quarter ending September already marked a reversal in the circumspect hiring trend, with five out of India’s top six IT companies— TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree – adding more than 17,500 employees.

Last week, announcing the first quarter earnings ending November, the world’s largest IT company, Accenture, upgraded its FY25 revenue outlook to 4–7% from earlier projections of 3–6% YoY. The Ireland-based firm, which has more than 300,000 employees in India, also added a net headcount of 24,000 in Q1FY25 and almost 48,500 in the past two quarters. India accounted for a majority of these additions.

Data and analytics workforce for Accenture increased to 69,000 with a fiscal year-end target of 80,000. The management also said clients are looking to invest more on data foundation and prioritizing expenses on AI.

India’s $254-billion software services industry, traditionally the biggest recruiting sector at local engineering and management campuses, is expected to expand their collective payrolls by up to 12% in FY26, data sourced by ET from staffing firms showed. The industry’s headcount had shrunk in FY24.With projected business growth of 10-15% for the next fiscal year, India’s technology workforce is expected to expand by an additional 500,000 to 750,000 professionals, bringing the total to around 5.5–5.75 million by end of March 2025. The next financial year – FY26 – will further see an uptick in hiring of 10-12% from there, data from mass recruitment firm, Teamlease, showed.

Fresher hiring, which had slowed to a trickle over the past several quarters on mounting growth concerns in key revenue markets on either side of the Atlantic, is estimated to surpass 150,000, ET reported recently.

The resumption of hiring marks a significant turnaround for India’s most globalised industry, which dominates services outsourcing worldwide. Last fiscal ending March 2024, India’s IT industry shed a record 70,000 employees in total, with bellwethers such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCLTech focusing on margin protection and staff utilization amid a protracted uncertainty over orders in both North America and Europe.

The industry’s hiring intent signals demand revival for the people-led software services sector. Workforce addition is seen as a mark of increased spending budgets on technology by Fortune 500 companies that rely on Indian technology support. This is backed by the start of a rate-easing cycle in the US, and production-readiness for a greater number of generative artificial intelligence projects.

There is increased demand for digital transformation services such as cloud computing, AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning), cybersecurity, and data analytics, experts say.

Niche skillsDemand for specialised skills is on the rise, said Neeti Sharma, CEO, Teamlease Digital, as more global companies set up GCCs (global capability centres) in India. Greater focus on R&D (research & development), domain specificity, and emerging technology will also drive demand for specialists, she said.

HR chiefs at listed majors TCS and fourth-largest exporter Wipro told ET recently that both companies were deepening their talent reservoir to meet the expected growth. The hiring of freshers would be critical to sustaining sector growth and addressing workforce needs, they said.

In an interview this month, Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer, TCS, said that as growth prospects look brighter, the company would hire more freshers in FY26 than the committed 40,000 in FY25.

Wipro, too, had sounded more optimistic.

“As we see green shoots in the macro environment, our focus is to ensure there are no supply-side constraints on managing the demand that is going to come,” Saurabh Govil, chief human resources officer, Wipro, had told ET earlier this month.

Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing, expects IT services hiring to expand 10-12% in the next six months. The company’s November report, which made this forecast, also said emerging technologies like generative AI and quantum computing would create more than a million jobs by 2030.

The second quarter ending September already marked a reversal in the circumspect hiring trend, with five out of India’s top six IT companies— TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree – adding more than 17,500 employees.

Last week, announcing the first quarter earnings ending November, the world’s largest IT company, Accenture, upgraded its FY25 revenue outlook to 4–7% from earlier projections of 3–6% YoY. The Ireland-based firm, which has more than 300,000 employees in India, also added a net headcount of 24,000 in Q1FY25 and almost 48,500 in the past two quarters. India accounted for a majority of these additions.

Data and analytics workforce for Accenture increased to 69,000 with a fiscal year-end target of 80,000. The management also said clients are looking to invest more on data foundation and prioritizing expenses on AI.