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Mangaluru and Udupi Build Karnataka’s Next Major Talent Hub
Mangaluru, Udupi and nearby areas are building more jobs for educated workers.
The region now has 280,000 white-collar professionals, including 105,000 with work experience.
Mangaluru and Udupi have most of these experienced workers.
Technology is the largest major employment area, but banking, manufacturing, hospitals and energy also provide jobs.
Many workers are young, and women make up 38% of the experienced talent pool.
Fewer people are actively trying to leave the region than last year.
However, more people still want to leave than move in.
Companies also need to create more senior jobs and keep workers longer.
The government hopes this growth will help coastal Karnataka become an employment centre instead of mainly sending workers to Bengaluru.
The Mangaluru-Udupi region has 280,000 accessible white-collar professionals, up from 240,000 in September 2025.
Experienced talent increased 17% to 105,000, with Mangaluru and Udupi accounting for about 74% of the total.
IT and IT-enabled services lead the experienced workforce, while finance, manufacturing, healthcare and energy also contribute significantly.
Active outbound jobseekers fell 20% to 29,000, but the region still has a net outflow of about 5,000 jobseekers.
High job churn, limited senior talent and declining female representation at higher experience levels remain challenges.
- Who
- Professionals, employers, educational institutions, Xpheno, the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission and the Karnataka state government are involved.
- What
- The Mangaluru-Udupi region is expanding its white-collar talent pool and developing into a larger employment hub.
- Where
- Mangaluru, Udupi and nearby areas in coastal Karnataka, with additional talent counted in parts of the surrounding region and Kerala.
- When
- The Silicon Beach Skills report was released in September 2026 and compares the region with September 2025.
- Why
- The growth is supported by existing colleges, employers and the Beyond Bengaluru Mission, while companies seek to hire from a larger regional talent pool.
Key facts
- Accessible white-collar professionals
- 280,000, up from 240,000 in September 2025
- Experienced talent
- 105,000 professionals, up 17% year over year
- Mangaluru experienced talent
- 55,000, up 20% in one year
- Udupi experienced talent
- 22,500, up 14% in one year
- Women’s representation
- Women account for 38% of the experienced talent pool
- Outbound jobseekers
- 29,000, down 20% from 36,400
- Inbound jobseekers
- 24,000, up 3% year over year
- Key retention issue
- Annual job-change rates were 16% for programmers and 17% for analytics professionals
Sources
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