IT jobs and the coming wave of AI
India's technology industry employs about 5.95 million people and earned $315 billion in 2025-26. The five largest IT services firms shrank by 7,389 people that year, as clients turn to AI for routine coding, testing and support.
Open for ideas, evidence and questions.
What we know
NASSCOM estimated the technology industry's revenue at $315 billion in 2025-26, up 6.1%, with about 5.95 million employees after a net addition of about 1.35 lakh.
TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra together shrank by 7,389 employees in 2025-26, after adding 12,718 the year before. In July 2025 TCS announced it would cut more than 12,000 jobs, about 2% of its staff, and its headcount fell from 6,07,979 to 5,84,519 over the year. Its chief executive said the cuts came from a mismatch of skills rather than from AI.
India has no general unemployment insurance. The Employees' State Insurance scheme pays an unemployment allowance, but only to workers earning up to ₹21,000 a month, which leaves out most IT employees.
Open questions
- How many engineering graduates from your state's colleges got an IT job last year, and at what salary?
- Which IT work are clients already handing to AI tools, such as testing, support, maintenance or documentation?
- What happens to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai if hiring for mid-level IT roles keeps shrinking?
- What support does a laid-off 40-year-old IT worker get today, and what would unemployment insurance for salaried workers cost?
- Do engineering colleges teach skills that will still pay in five years, and who decides the syllabus?
- When automation hit a large industry in other countries, what helped workers most?
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