New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) India’s IT job demand reached 1.8 million roles in 2025, up 16 per cent over the previous year, with a larger share of hiring coming from GCCs and product-led organisations, a report has said.

The report from talent solutions provider Quess Corp said Global Capability Centres accounted for about 27 per cent of total IT hiring demand in 2025, up from 15 per cent in 2024, while product and SaaS firms expanded selective hiring, while IT services and consulting recorded modest growth.

Startup hiring declined to low single-digit levels amid funding moderation, the report noted.

Mid‑career professionals with four to ten years of experience made up 65 per cent of hiring, compared with 50 per cent in 2024, and entry‑level hiring accounted for 15 per cent as employers sought productivity‑ready talent.

Demand shifted strongly toward emerging digital skills, with AI/ML, cloud engineering, DevOps and cybersecurity outpacing traditional software roles significantly with over half of hiring centred on former capabilities, the report said.

Select next‑generation roles attracted salary premiums of 10–40 per cent for Generative AI specialists, MLOps and LLMOps engineers, AI ethics and governance leads, FinOps professionals, cyber threat intelligence analysts and platform engineering architects

AI, cloud and cybersecurity skills saw particularly strong interest, pointing to the increasing complexity of roles being built in India. Overall, this suggests a technology hiring market that is moving steadily up the value curve, with this momentum offering a positive base for 2026,” said Kapil Joshi, CEO of IT Staffing, Quess Corp.

Hiring remained concentrated in Tier‑1 cities, which accounted for 88–90 per cent of demand, led by Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi NCR, while Tier‑2 and Tier‑3 cities contributed 10–12 per cent.

Average time‑to‑hire extended to 45–60 days in 2025, stretching to 75–90 days for niche skills such as AI/ML and cybersecurity. Contract roles rose to about 10–11 per cent of demand from around 8 per cent in 2024.

–IANS

aar/na