IT hiring 2026 has slowed sharply at India’s top six IT companies. Their combined IT and engineering headcount fell 2.97% to 797,722 in October 2026, from 822,144 a year earlier.
About 92,000 people left. Only about 68,000 were hired back.
The figures come from staffing firm Xpheno. The Economic Times published them on October 22, 2026. Xpheno tracks the IT and engineering talent pool at these six companies.
That works out to about 67 seats a day. Nobody announced it. The seats simply were not filled again.
How many IT jobs went in the last 12 months?
India’s top six IT companies employed 822,144 people in IT and engineering roles in October 2025. The pool fell to 804,523 by April 2026. By October 2026 it was 797,722.
The six are Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree. Together they lost 24,422 roles in a year. That is a fall of 2.97%.
Why did IT hiring 2026 fall at India’s top six IT companies?
IT hiring 2026 fell because exits were not matched by new hires. About 92,000 people left these six firms in 12 months. Only about 68,000 joined.
Attrition itself stayed normal. Attrition is the share of staff who quit each year. Xpheno puts it at 11% to 15%.
Francis Padamadan, chief executive of Xpheno, said firms have not refilled every exited seat.
Exits beat hiring in five of the last six months, the Xpheno data shows.
Turn Your Achievements Into Stories That Students Actually Read
Feature admissions, placements, rankings, events, research initiatives, achievements, and institutional milestones before a highly engaged education-focused audience.
Which IT companies added staff in the September 2026 quarter?
Company level numbers tell a mixed story. Three of the six added staff in the September 2026 quarter. Wipro did not.
| Company | Headcount change, September 2026 quarter |
|---|---|
| HCLTech | Up 6,450 |
| Tech Mahindra | Up 5,446 |
| Tata Consultancy Services | Up 4,258 |
| Wipro | Down 6,716 |
One caution on that table. Those are whole company numbers, across every role. The Xpheno pool of 797,722 counts IT and engineering jobs only.
Which IT roles are shrinking and which are growing?
TeamLease Digital said the fall comes from workforce cuts and new technology needs. AI means artificial intelligence. The firm said AI is cutting the need for routine work in some old IT jobs.
Neeti Sharma, chief executive of TeamLease Digital, said new hiring has fallen behind exits. The strain sits hardest on staff with five to 12 years of work.
Manual testing, application maintenance, L1 and L2 support and server work are under most strain. TeamLease Digital says hiring for AI, cloud, cybersecurity and specialist engineering roles grew about 16% in a year. Overall IT hiring fell about 3%.
Is the IT job loss slowing down or speeding up?
The pace has eased. India’s top six IT companies lost 17,621 roles between October 2025 and April 2026. They lost 6,801 more in the six months after that.
That is a 2.14% fall in the first half and 0.85% in the second. The decline is still a decline. But it is running at about two fifths of the earlier rate.
What engineering students should check before the 2027 placement season
Campus hiring at these six firms is not stopping. It is narrowing. The growing jobs sit in AI, cloud, cybersecurity and specialist engineering work.
Check the role name in your offer letter, not just the company name. A job in application maintenance sits in the shrinking half of the pool.
Tier-3 college se BTech kar raha hoon, 2027 mein IT job milegi kya?
Yes, but the role matters more than the year. India’s top six IT companies still hired about 68,000 people in 12 months.
Target AI, cloud and cybersecurity skills. Manual testing roles are the ones being cut.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many jobs did India’s top six IT companies cut in 2026?
India’s top six IT companies cut 24,422 IT and engineering jobs between October 2025 and October 2026. The pool fell from 822,144 people to 797,722. That is a fall of 2.97%. The data comes from staffing firm Xpheno.
Which six IT companies are counted in this data?
The six companies are Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree. Staffing firm Xpheno tracks their combined IT and engineering talent pool. That pool stood at 797,722 people in October 2026, down from 822,144 in October 2025.
Is IT hiring 2026 stopping completely for freshers?
No. India’s top six IT companies still took in about 68,000 people over 12 months to October 2026. About 92,000 left in the same period. IT hiring 2026 has not stopped. It is just not replacing every exit.
Which IT roles are still hiring in India in 2026?
TeamLease Digital says hiring for AI, cloud, cybersecurity and specialist engineering roles grew about 16% in a year. Overall IT hiring fell about 3%. Manual testing, application maintenance and L1 and L2 support jobs face the most strain.
Is the IT job decline getting worse each month?
No. India’s top six IT companies lost 17,621 roles in the six months to April 2026. They lost 6,801 in the next six months. The decline rate fell from 2.14% to 0.85%. The fall is slowing, not speeding up.
Does normal attrition explain the 24,422 drop?
Only in part. Xpheno puts annual attrition at 11% to 15%, which is normal for Indian IT. Francis Padamadan, chief executive of Xpheno, said firms have not refilled every exited seat. That gap of about 24,000 seats is the drop.
Last verified: October 22, 2026
Disclaimer: Hiring numbers, role mixes and campus intake can change without notice. Check with the company or your placement cell before you act.
