Employers seek more specialised skills from freshers: Survey

India’s technology hiring landscape is showing a shift in where technology-related jobs are being created, with demand for technology professionals increasing even as the share of freshers hired by traditional IT companies declines, according to the foundit Insights Tracker for July 2026. The data shows that the IT occupation index increased by 10% year-on-year, while the IT industry index declined by 6%. At the same time, the share of IT hardware and software companies in fresher hiring fell from 32% in 2025 to 24% in 2026. Technology-related roles are increasingly appearing across sectors such as banking and financial services, manufacturing, healthcare and global capability centres (GCCs). Overall fresher hiring declined 10% year-on-year and 2% month-on-month in July.

Fresher hiring shifts across sectors

Some sectors recorded an increase in their share of entry-level recruitment. BFSI and retail each accounted for 8% of fresher hiring, compared with 7% and 5%, respectively, in 2025. BPO/ITES and advertising, market research and public relations each accounted for 6%. Sales and business development increased its share of fresher hiring from 18% to 20%, while engineering and production rose from 6% to 8%. Medical roles recorded the largest increase among the functions listed, rising from 7% to 11%.

The findings indicate that opportunities for graduates are spread across a wider range of industries, rather than being concentrated only in traditional technology companies.

AI roles expand at entry level

AI-related positions accounted for 4% of fresher hiring, compared with around 1% in 2025. The roles, however, are not limited to AI model development. AI/ML engineers, data scientists and generative AI developers together accounted for 44% of entry-level AI hiring. Roles such as data analysts, prompt engineers, AI operations and AI quality assurance and testing accounted for 51%. For students, this points to a broader range of entry-level opportunities involving the use, evaluation and management of AI systems in addition to developing AI technologies.

Skills and internship experience

STEM graduates accounted for 42% of fresher hiring, followed by management and commerce graduates at 32%. Diploma and vocational candidates accounted for 8%. The data also indicates growing importance of internship experience. Nearly six in 10 fresher job postings preferred or required some internship experience, while 42% remained open to candidates without it. Salary levels varied considerably. About two-thirds of entry-level roles offered less than ₹5 lakh per annum, while 12% offered ₹8 lakh or more, with higher-paying roles concentrated in areas such as AI, data science, cybersecurity, semiconductor and product engineering.

GCCs increase fresher hiring

Global capability centres increased their share of fresher hiring from 8% to 11%, with recruitment spanning AI, engineering, analytics and finance operations. Multinational companies increased their share marginally from 26% to 27%. Delhi NCR accounted for the largest share of fresher hiring at 19%, followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune at 14% each. Hyderabad accounted for 11%. The July data suggests that students entering the workforce may need to consider opportunities across sectors while developing practical, specialised and adaptable skills alongside their academic qualifications.

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