AI hiring rises in India while overall IT recruitment falls

The Economic Times reports that AI hiring in India's IT sector outpaced overall technology recruitment in June. Naukri's JobSpeak report found AI roles rose 16% year over year while overall IT jobs fell 3%. The divergence comes as India's $315 billion IT services sector faces slower client spending and companies shift investment toward AI skills and agents.

Key details: AI roles in India's IT sector rose 16% year over year in June, Overall IT hiring declined 3%, Naukri's report covered job listings from more than 150,000 firms.

Why it matters: India's IT labor market is showing the AI reallocation pattern directly: fewer broad IT roles, more specialized AI demand.