Companies prioritising AI readiness, specialised skills over large-scale workforce expansion: Report

India's hiring market is entering a new phase, with organisations moving beyond expansion-led recruitment towards precision hiring, finds a new study.

As businesses navigate evolving skill requirements and rapid technological change, employers are increasingly prioritising specialised talent, AI capabilities and faster hiring decisions over large-scale workforce expansion, according to the India at Work: FY27 Hiring Trends, a new report by upGrad Rekrut.

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Based on responses from 11,418 senior HR, talent and business leaders across 12 sectors, the report finds that while hiring demand remains steady, organisations are fundamentally changing how they build teams. Employers are shifting their focus towards capability-led workforce planning, structured hiring processes and targeted recruitment for roles that directly influence business outcomes.

The report identifies FY26 as a turning point for India's hiring landscape. Nearly eight in 10 organisations hired below their planned targets, highlighting that recruitment challenges today are less about talent availability and more about execution. Organisations that successfully met their hiring goals reported faster approvals, stronger talent pipelines and more consistent evaluation processes, demonstrating that speed and structure have become critical differentiators.

The study also highlights a rapidly evolving talent landscape. Professionals with three to eight years of experience have emerged as the most sought-after talent segment across industries, while restructuring across IT services and global capability centres (GCCs) is creating a rare opportunity to access experienced technology professionals. At the same time, AI literacy is becoming an increasingly important hiring criterion as organisations prepare for AI-led transformation across business functions.

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Further, half the organisations surveyed expect compensation growth to remain between 0–5%, while 13% are introducing differentiated pay premiums for business-critical roles.

“In an AI-driven economy, sustainable growth will be defined not by how many people organisations hire, but by how effectively they identify, assess and secure critical talent. Organisations that combine speed, capability-led hiring and strong talent pipelines will be best positioned to build resilient workforces and outperform in the years ahead," said Husain Tinwala, CEO at upGrad Rekrut.