Archive · 6 Aug 2026
India fresher hiring shifts beyond IT with AI, GCCs rising
Imagine a big game where companies pick people just out of school for their first jobs.
In India, this game is changing.
Before, almost all new tech jobs were in computer companies, but now banks, factories, hospitals and other businesses are hiring tech workers too.
The number of new graduate jobs got smaller over the past year.
But jobs for workers with seven to ten years of experience grew.
Health care jobs grew the fastest for fresh graduates.
New jobs using artificial intelligence are growing, but most of them are about using AI rather than building it.
Companies also prefer students who did internships.
Most new jobs still go to STEM and business graduates.
Big cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune have the most new jobs.
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) increased their share of India's entry-level hiring from 8% to 11%, the biggest gain among employer categories.
Fresher hiring declined 2% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year, while professionals with 7–10 years of experience saw 11% year-on-year growth.
Medical roles recorded the biggest jump in fresher hiring share, rising from 7% to 11%, making healthcare the fastest-growing functional area.
AI-led roles grew from about 1% to 4% of fresher hiring, with 51% of those opportunities in AI operations such as data analysis and prompt engineering.
Delhi NCR leads fresher hiring with a 19% share; Pune rose from 12% to 14%, while Mumbai slipped from 16% to 14%.
- Who
- India's fresh graduates and employers including Global Capability Centres (GCCs), multinational companies, banks, manufacturers and healthcare firms; foundit CEO Tarun Sinha commented on the trends.
- What
- India's entry-level hiring is shifting beyond traditional IT firms, with growth in GCC, healthcare, sales, engineering and AI-related recruitment even as overall fresher hiring declines.
- When
- The data covers July and year-on-year trends over the past year.
- Where
- India, with Delhi NCR leading, followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai.
- Why
- Companies are diversifying technology hiring outside IT firms and hiring talent to deploy AI systems, while keeping entry-level recruitment under pressure.
Invest in Fresh Graduates
Hire Experienced Talent
Entry-level hiring strategy in a slow year
Invest in Fresh Graduates
Organisations that continue hiring graduates through a slow year are investing in future capability and building tomorrow's leadership pipeline, in foundit CEO Tarun Sinha's view.
Hire Experienced Talent
Hiring experienced talent is faster, and professionals with 7–10 years of experience are the only group registering growth in hiring.
Degree-based vs skills-based hiring
Invest in Fresh Graduates
Formal qualifications still dominate, with STEM graduates taking 42% and Management and Commerce graduates 32% of fresher hiring.
Hire Experienced Talent
Employers are moving towards skills-based hiring, with 15% of fresher job postings not specifying any educational qualification.
- Data source
- foundit hiring index
- GCC share of fresher hiring
- Rose from 8% to 11%
- Overall fresher hiring
- Down 2% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year
- Experienced hiring (7–10 years)
- Up 2% month-on-month and 11% year-on-year
- Medical roles in fresher hiring
- Rose from 7% to 11%
- AI-led roles in fresher hiring
- Rose from about 1% to 4%
- Share of AI roles in operations
- 51%
- Leading city
- Delhi NCR with 19% share