Tech-related hiring in India at all time low, software engineers hit hardest: Study

India's tech hiring is slowing down, with software job postings falling 12.3 per cent, according to a study.

In Short

• Software development job postings in India fell 12.3 per cent
• IT infrastructure and support roles declined 10.2 per cent
• Non-tech sectors like sports, beauty, and personal care are seeing strong hiring growth

Tech-related hiring appears to be slowing down in India with software engineers possibly hit the hardest as companies start to transition around AI and automation. According to a new study, while job vacancies in general are seeing a decline, openings in technology space have declined more sharply over the last few months.

According to Indeed, a popular job portal, Indian job postings on the platform fell 0.7 per cent in May 2026, with software development job postings down by a sizeable 12.3 per cent over the past three months. Other tech jobs like IT infrastructure, operations and support, IT systems and solutions, and data and analytics were also down by 10.2-, 9.3-, and 6.7 per cent respectively. The Indeed data also suggests tech companies are increasingly pushing for employees to return to office.

What data is saying

The tech space is currently undergoing a massive overhaul with hiring and other operations being governed by how effectively AI can be integrated into their systems. The Indeed data doesn’t get into the granular details about why jobs are drying out within the technology sector – or more precisely why there are fewer jobs being posted on the platform now than before – but a quick observation of the industry would tell you that AI is one of the few major catalysts behind companies reshaping or restructuring either through getting more AI-savvy employees on-board or using more AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to get things done with fewer people.

Layoffs in the tech space are gradually increasing whereas in the past, it was few and far between. For example, between October 2025 and January 2026, Amazon cut roughly 30,000 corporate and tech roles. This April, Meta announced 8,000 layoffs. In the same month, Microsoft announced voluntary retirement for approximately 8,750 US employees. The list is long, but crux of the matter is that the tech space is changing rapidly and the Indeed data adds credence to what we already know, that tech jobs are in the middle of a big churn in which some roles may be fully eliminated and new roles such as Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) come into the picture.

Also, companies are increasingly opting to lessen or completely remove work from home options for employees with Indeed data once again pointing to software development, IT infrastructure, operations and support roles as being hit the hardest with a 4.4 per cent decline in remote work.

“Changes in remote share can reflect changing attitudes among employers, particularly with regard to work-from-the-office mandates. That’s certainly been the case with tech companies recently,” Indeed said in a press release adding, “It may also reflect attempts by employers to attract more candidates.”

Non-tech jobs on the rise

What makes the Indeed data particularly interesting is what is happening outside of tech at the same time. While software jobs are declining, sectors like sports, beauty and wellness, personal care, and home services are seeing some of the strongest hiring growth in the country. Sports job postings are up 41 per cent over the past three months, beauty and wellness up 36 per cent, and personal care and home health up 34 per cent.

- Ends