Indian IT hiring pivots to AI skills over mass recruitment
BENGALURU, INDIA — Indian IT companies are rethinking their hiring strategies, shifting focus from mass recruitment to attracting professionals with specialized skills in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data analytics.
According to a report from The Hans India, the change comes as technology-driven demand reshapes workforce priorities in the country’s US$250 billion IT sector.
AI, data skills drive new Indian IT hiring strategy
Companies are increasingly prioritizing quality over quantity in hiring.
“Slowly, IT hiring is becoming [a value-over-volume] approach. IT companies are adding headcount. This is mainly for three reasons. Firstly, hiring is happening in the US and Europe (where moving professionals is becoming difficult),” Pareekh Jain, IT outsourcing advisor and founder of Pareekh Consulting, told The Hans India.
“Secondly, many companies are doing acquisitions, which is leading to headcount addition. Thirdly, companies are looking for specific [skill sets] for which they are recruiting people,” Jain continued.
While the top five Indian IT firms collectively saw their headcount fall by over 2,000 in the third quarter of FY26, this masks a more nuanced picture.
Infosys and Wipro added 5,043 and 6,529 employees, respectively, while Tata Consultancy Services experienced a reduction of 11,251.
“Although the numbers show a different picture, Indian IT firms are hiring. We need to also remember that professionals who started their [careers] in the nineties are also retiring. This was not the case in earlier years,” Jain noted.
Companies are willing to pay a premium for emerging skills, with reports indicating that freshers with AI and data capabilities can earn more than ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) annually.
“For legacy [skill sets], hiring is happening on [a] need basis. But companies are looking at more AI-specific skillsets now and paying more. Many positions, which are becoming vacant due to attrition, are not being filled. Bench has been reduced to bare minimum now. That is the reason why companies are paying higher salaries to freshers now,” an HR expert told The Hans India.
Strategic shift in global outsourcing
The transition toward skill-first hiring highlights a structural shift in the Indian IT sector.
Companies are not just adapting to the AI wave but are also reshaping their workforce for the future, reducing legacy roles and emphasizing in-demand expertise.
For the global outsourcing industry, this focus on specialized talent presents both opportunities and challenges. Indian IT firms, long relied upon for their flexible labor pool, are now building deep expertise in emerging technologies.
This strategy enables them to compete more successfully against their rivals, who pursue intricate and valuable international contracts, while they keep their compact and expert workforce.
Hence, this direction can nudge up the global demand for AI-driven services, reinforcing India as the center of the global IT industry.
