Tech job openings fall 8% in April as AI replaces headcount

Tech hiring has taken a hit at a time when companies are shedding staff, ostensibly because artificial intelligence is taking over roles that humans handle. Active openings have fallen 8% to 110,000 this month from 119,000 in March, according to staffing firm Xpheno.

India’s tech sector had 256,000 active job openings in April 2022—thanks tothe post-pandemic surge in IT services--and accounted for 83% of all hiring in the country. Tech’s share of total hiring has slumped to 49%, according to Xpheno’s Active Tech Jobs Outlook report, erasing three months of gains. Recruitment has now been sluggish for four consecutive quarters.

“Right now, the slowdown is much higher in IT services companies, where hiring has reduced to only essential roles or newer skill sets while focusing on AI-led efficiency,” said TeamLease Digital CEO Neeti Sharma. “On the other hand, GCCs (global capability centres) continue to hire but much more selectively, slowing down only for low-value or support roles while continuing to invest in high-skill, strategic and digital capabilities.”


Still, companies are not pulling back entirely.

“Global clients, especially from the US and Europe, are deferring hiring decisions rather than cancelling them outright,” said Sanketh Chengappa, director at Adecco India. “The slowdown is now being driven more by internal cost control. Organisations are prioritising productivity, leveraging AI to reduce incremental hiring, and focusing on margin expansion. This is a structural reset rather than a cyclical dip.”

The Xpheno data show the slowdown is spread across segments. GCC openings fell 21% month-on-month, IT services dropped 7% sequentially and from a year ago. Consulting roles fell 33% and mid-junior openings dropped 25% from the month before.

“Delay in hiring decisions is much more in the IT services sector, primarily due to budgets being rechecked and fewer new projects, while in GCCs, decisions are mostly delayed due to their selection cycles, taking longer to find the right talent, especially for niche and high-end skill roles,” Sharma said.

Two trends are operating in parallel when it comes to GCCs.

“Larger GCCs are slowing hiring due to AI and macro conditions, while new GCCs continue to come up,” said Pareekh Jain, CEO of EIIRTrend.

Only around 1,700 of a potential 5,000 global companies have set up GCCs in India so far, and new entrants could offset the slowdown from larger, established centres, he said.

“Overall, GCC hiring should grow but may see variation in month-on-month trends depending on which segment is more prominent,” Jain said.

The shift is also visible in the way companies are structuring their workforce. Full-time roles, which account for 77% of all openings, fell 3% while contract openings dropped 17%. “Short-term hiring is more prominent in IT services companies as they want to keep their hiring decisions flexible while being able to get the right talent at the right time,” Sharma noted.

Adecco’s Chengappa said, “What we are witnessing is not a collapse in tech hiring but a structural shift toward precision hiring. Companies are prioritising skills, productivity, and flexibility over scale.”

Geographically, the pressure is concentrated in the big cities. Metro hiring fell 29% from a year ago while tier two and tier three locations grew 10% over the same period, underlining that hiring is slowly moving beyond the traditional tech hubs of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR.