India's tech job openings hit a record 1.3 lakh: what it means for freshers

12 Nov 2026 · By Amol Pagar

Rising bar chart showing India's tech job openings reaching a record 1.3 lakh in November 2026

India's tech job market has reached a new high. There are about 1,30,000 active tech job openings in November 2026, according to the latest Active Tech Jobs Outlook from staffing firm Xpheno, as reported by Deccan Herald.

That is 6% more than in October and 27% more than in November 2025. It is also the fifth month in a row of growth since openings fell to 93,000 in June. Xpheno calls it the longest steady recovery it has seen in more than two years.

Tech roles now make up 52% of all active white-collar openings in India. This share has stayed above half for three months running, the highest level since January.

IT services companies are leading tech hiring

The biggest push is coming from IT services firms. They have about 76,000 open tech roles, up 15% in a month and 77% in a year. That is a record for the segment and close to three out of every five tech openings in the country.

Global capability centres (GCCs), the in-house tech and operations centres that global companies run in India, have about 19,000 openings. That is 6% more than last month and 58% more than a year ago. Hiring by funded startups and software product companies, on the other hand, slowed down this month.

Which experience levels are in demand

Mid-senior (5 to 10 years): 70,000 openings, 54% of the total and still the most wanted group
Entry level (up to 2 years): 16,000 openings, about 12% of the total
Mid-junior: 9,000 openings, the fastest growth this month at 29%

For freshers, the number is still small compared with the total. Only about one in eight openings is meant for people with up to two years of experience. In October, Xpheno counted about 15,000 entry-level roles, so the figure has moved up only slightly.

Where the tech jobs are: Bengaluru leads

Most of the hiring is in big cities. The large metros together have about 95,000 openings, or 73% of the total, up 14% from October and 30% from a year ago.

Bengaluru: 35,000 openings
Hyderabad: 16,000
Delhi NCR: 10,000
Chennai: 10,000

Smaller cities (Tier 2 and Tier 3) have about 35,000 openings. That is 13% lower than in October, but still 21% higher than a year ago.

What Xpheno says

Xpheno co-founder Kamal Karanth said earlier rises in tech demand were short and faded quickly, while this one has now lasted five months, which he sees as a possible sign that demand is settling. He also linked the trend to the net headcount additions reported by large IT services companies in their recent quarterly (Q2) results, and said keeping this pace for the rest of the quarter would be good news for tech professionals.

What this means for you

Freshers: IT services firms are adding the most jobs, so watch their official careers pages and campus or off-campus drives. Strong basics in one language such as Java or Python, SQL and one cloud platform help you clear the first rounds.
1 to 4 years of experience: mid-junior roles grew the fastest this month. This is a good time to update your resume and apply for a switch.
5 to 10 years: you are the most wanted group. GCCs and IT services firms are both hiring, so compare offers on role, pay and growth, not pay alone.
Outside the metros: openings in smaller cities dipped this month but are higher than last year. Hybrid or remote roles can widen your options.
Find openings on official career pages only: see fresher jobs, IT jobs in Bengaluru, IT jobs in Hyderabad and software engineer jobs.

The fresher picture still needs care: Nasscom recently warned that AI is putting pressure on entry-level IT roles. Read what freshers should do now.

Sources: Deccan Herald, citing Xpheno's Active Tech Jobs Outlook, November 2026 · The Wire Desk, October 2026 figures