India's engineering graduates are facing unprecedented delays in starting their first jobs, with some freshers waiting more than 18 months after clearing selection processes. According to reports from Mint, at least three major IT services firms - Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Wipro Ltd, and LTM Ltd - have significantly delayed fresh graduate onboarding due to cautious hiring practices and business uncertainty. Cognizant has provided tentative joining dates between February 2027 to May 2027 to certain graduates who received letters of intent in January and February this year, implying potential delays exceeding a year from acceptance to actual joining.
The hiring delays coincide with broader concerns about AI's impact on entry-level employment, with 47% of recent graduates surveyed by ZipRecruiter stating that AI has already affected hiring in their field. Stanford University economist Erik Brynjolfsson provides evidence that AI is specifically impacting early-career workers, finding that since late 2022, early-career workers ages 22 to 25 in AI-exposed roles have experienced a 16% relative employment decline. This contrasts sharply with employment rates for older workers and non-AI exposed roles, which remained stable or grew during the same period. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that the unemployment rate for recent graduates (22-27-year-olds with new degrees) was 5.7% as of June, significantly higher than the overall worker unemployment rate of 4.1%.
Recent data from Quess Corp's FY26 Pulse Report reveals similar trends in the global capability centre (GCC) segment, where fresher hiring fell to 15% in 2025 from 28% in 2024. The report notes that employers are increasingly prioritising professionals with four to 10 years of experience, with high workforce mobility remaining a challenge as replacement hiring accounts for nearly 40% of hiring demand among Gen Z talent. Workers aged 15-29 now have a median job tenure of just 13 months, compared to 20 months for workers aged 30-60, highlighting the accelerated nature of job transitions in the current market.
When approached by Mint, all three companies confirmed their commitment to honoring existing offers. A Cognizant spokesperson stated the company remains "fully committed to honouring all offers" and that onboarding plans align with project readiness needs. Wipro similarly assured it "remains committed to onboarding the freshers, in line with our business requirements," while LTM emphasized freshers are "an integral part" of its hiring strategy. The delays reflect a fundamental shift in the sector's approach, with companies now onboarding only when specific project requirements and timelines are available, rather than maintaining traditional bench-based hiring practices.
The hiring delays come amid mixed financial performance across the affected companies. According to Mint reports, Cognizant ended the last calendar year with $21.1 billion in revenue, while Wipro and LTM reported $10.48 billion and $4.76 billion respectively for the April-March 2026 fiscal year. Cognizant and LTM showed revenue growth of 7% and 6% respectively, while Wipro's revenue declined by 0.3%. The companies currently employ 356,700, 243,044, and 87,886 employees respectively as of the June quarter.
