India’s tech job openings drop 24% in September: Xpheno
The September 2025 openings have a “freshness index” of 37%, with nearly two-fifths of postings refreshed in the last two weeks
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India’s IT sector continues to face sustained weakness in talent demand, with active open tech jobs in September 2025 falling 24% year-on-year, according to staffing firm Xpheno. The sector’s share in the country’s total active talent demand has slipped to 49%, while non-tech sectors collectively account for 51%, a shift that first occurred in October 2022.
The September 2025 openings have a “freshness index” of 37%, with nearly two-fifths of postings refreshed in the last two weeks. This compares with 36% in August 2025 and 40% in the same period last year.
Full-time openings continue to dominate, accounting for 82,000 jobs or over 80% of total active openings. However, they were down 5% from August 2025. Other engagements such as contract, part-time, and internships have seen a sharper drop of over 15% year-on-year. Mid-senior level roles remain the largest category with 54% of openings, though volumes are down 5% month-on-month. Entry-level opportunities for talent with up to two years of experience fell 6% MoM to 15,000 openings.
Among cohorts, IT services-the largest consumer of tech talent—saw demand drop to 43,000 openings, down 9% from August and 24% from a year ago. Persistent global IT spending headwinds and the rise of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) have kept the services sector under pressure. Meanwhile, GCCs accounted for 13,000 openings or 13% of active demand, marking a modest 1% YoY increase.
Functionally, core tech and engineering roles still dominate with 60% share, though demand in this cluster has dropped 8% month-on-month and 24% year-on-year. Associated functions such as tech business development, sales, project management, and marketing also reported declines. Consulting and advisory openings fell 17% month-on-month but remain 15% higher than last year.
Geographically, demand remains concentrated in megacities, which account for 83% of active openings. However, their YoY demand volume is down 20%, while Tier-2 and Tier-3 locations saw 5% growth. Work-from-office (WFO) roles continue to dominate at 72% of openings, though they are down 5% month-on-month and 14% year-on-year.
