India's IT services sector is experiencing a significant hiring uptick after a prolonged period of muted demand. According to Xpheno data, active talent demand across IT services has risen to 57,000 roles for September 2026, marking the highest level since February 2025 when it stood at around 80,000 roles. The rebound has pushed overall hiring demand in the Indian IT sector to 117,000 roles, close to the recent high of 119,000 recorded in March 2026. As per Xpheno co-founder Kamal Karanth, "the current recovery in the IT Services Cohort is definitely the sleeping giant waking up. A sustained momentum in the months ahead will be a welcome shift."
Foreign banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) firms have driven Global Capability Centres (GCC) office leasing to a record 7.32 million sq ft in the first half of 2026, representing a 70% year-on-year increase from 4.31 million sq ft in the same period last year, according to Knight Frank data. The BFSI sector contributed 36% of the overall leasing of 20.6 million sq ft for GCCs across eight major Indian cities - Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. This surge underscores the sector's growing appetite for high-quality office spaces as companies expand beyond traditional technology operations into technology, innovation and enterprise transformation.
The hiring demand surge is being driven by employers prioritizing AI, cloud and digital skills over traditional roles. According to Indeed India's Sashi Kumar, roles that mention AI in software development have grown 138% between Q2 2024 and Q2 2026, even as overall software development postings stayed roughly flat. Mid-senior and senior roles account for nearly 60% of the active demand, highlighting the need for experienced talent with execution focus. As per Xpheno, the tech sector's contribution to India's total active talent demand has risen to 51%, up 3 percentage points month-on-month and 2 percentage points year-on-year, crossing the 50% mark for the first time this fiscal year.
India's office leasing momentum weakened in Q1FY27 due to the West Asia war, with gross absorption declining 6% year-on-year to 19.4 million sq ft and net absorption falling 21% to 9.9 million sq ft, according to Propstack data compiled by Kotak Institutional Equities. However, vacancy levels improved as new supply declined 3% year-on-year, with aggregate pan-India vacancy easing to 11.3% in Q1 from 11.5% in Q4FY26 and 13.2% a year ago. Despite delays in closing realty transactions amid the conflict, the demand-supply mismatch continues to support rental growth, with GCCs contributing 48% of total office space transactions in Q1, up from 44% a year earlier.
Healthcare and care-related roles emerged as the strongest performers during the recovery period. According to Indeed's analysis, medical technicians saw postings increase by 30.3% from April to July 2026, the strongest gain among all occupations tracked. Childcare roles rose 26.3%, while physicians and surgeons posted 26% growth and therapy roles increased 24.8%. Other sectors also recorded strong growth, with logistics support postings rising 22%, followed by retail, real estate, food preparation and service, architecture, and civil engineering. The trend suggests that hiring demand is spreading towards healthcare, services, and other parts of the care economy, highlighting sustained demand for workers in essential services sectors.
