IT firms are expected to hire more aggressively in FY26
What's the story
The technology services sector is preparing for a massive hiring spree in the next fiscal year (FY26), with estimates suggesting an uptick to over 150,000 new recruits.
This would be almost a twofold increase from last year, according to The Economic Times.
Despite challenges like job losses and cautious recruitment strategies in 2024, global IT services firms such as Accenture, Capgemini, and Cognizant are expected to lead this hiring surge.
Recruitment trends
Fresh engineering grads to drive hiring surge
According to Teamlease's data, the sector is expected to onboard 85,000-95,000 freshers in the current fiscal year.
UnearthInsight also predicts a steady hiring rate of 160,000-180,000 for FY26.
Despite economic policy uncertainties under the new US administration affecting overall headcount addition moderately, there's a sustained focus on fresh graduates and specialized talent in fields such as AI and cloud computing.
Hiring strategies
GCCs and India's top software service exporters raise hiring targets
Gaurav Vasu, CEO of UnearthInsight, says 70-75% of fresher hiring is still dominated by IT services firms while global capability centers (GCCs) make up 25-30%.
He also observed that even GCCs, especially those in semiconductor and manufacturing, have increased their fresher hiring targets.
India's top six software service exporters intend to onboard about 82,000 fresh graduates between them in FY26 despite slower hiring trends this fiscal.
Market outlook
Morgan Stanley foresees moderate growth for India IT companies
A recent report by Morgan Stanley predicts a slower pace of recovery with moderate growth for a prolonged period (FY26/27).
The report cites reduced forecasts for US real GDP growth, which could lead to moderate growth for Indian IT companies that derive over 50% of their revenue from the US.
However, large cap companies such as TCS and LTIMindtree are well-positioned to outperform industry growth due to recovering sectors like banking and financial services.