Bengaluru: The country's tech sector continues to see weakness in active job openings. Total tech job demand in July stood at 1,06,000 - 8 per cent lower than July 2025. But it's a 14 per cent month-on-month rise from June 2026. According to specialist staffing firm Xpheno, this signals a short-term recovery in active demand after a sharp crunch in June 2026.
Though IT services hiring recovered M-o-M to 42,000 active openings, demand remains 22 per cent lower y-o-y, reflecting continued stress in the sector.
Entry-level IT hiring dips as firms seek experienceThe active tech demand outlook for July 2026 is a significant 11 per cent lower than the high volume last recorded in March 2026. If current market conditions remain stable and supportive of the positive recovery, the new quarter opening in July 2026 could be a welcome quarter for the sector and its talent alike, it said.
"The tech sector took a break from its sustained downward trajectory in active talent demand volume. The volume of active openings in the sector has remained sluggish over the last five quarters. The tech sector's current contribution to the country's total active talent demand has moved up to 49 per cent, continuing in the sub-50 per cent mark for the fourth month in a row," Xpheno Co-founder Kamal Karanth said.
Bengaluru tops with 24,000 openings, a 20 per cent increase M-o-M. However, it is down 43 per cent y-o-y.
2 in 3 new GCC jobs are now AI roles
Meanwhile, overall white-collar hiring in India stayed subdued in June 2026. The foundit Insights Tracker showed a 5 per cent drop from May and a 9 per cent decline year-on-year. But Global Capability Centres continued to grow, with hiring now leaning heavily toward AI, foundit said. Nearly two in three new GCC roles created in 2026 - 64 per cent - require AI, data science, or intelligent automation skills. Technology & Software and BFSI together make up 56 per cent of all GCC hiring.
India recorded 2,27,991 GCC hires till June 2026, up 11 per cent from the same period last year. With about 2,120 GCCs operating in the country, foundit projects total GCC hiring will hit 5,10,452 jobs by year-end, a 12 per cent rise over 2025.
Bengaluru leads startup hiring with 20% share"Companies are no longer setting up GCCs simply to reduce costs. They are building them to develop the AI, engineering and product capabilities that run their global businesses. India offers the depth of talent to do this at scale, and the growing pull of Tier 2 cities shows how far that capability now extends beyond the traditional metros," said Tarun Sinha, CEO, foundit.
Bengaluru continues to lead GCC hiring with a 30 per cent share (up 10 per cent y-o-y), followed by Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai.