AI is reshaping tech labour

Artificial intelligence is cutting into the routine coding and support work that powered India’s information-technology hiring boom, and firms are shrinking teams around it. (straitstimes.com) The shift is showing up in both India and the United States. Tata Consultancy Services ended the financial year in March 2026 with 584,519 employees, down from 607,979 a year earlier, while The Straits Times reported Oracle was cutting an estimated 10,000 jobs in India as it redirected spending toward data centers for AI workloads. (straitstimes.com) In the U.S., Indian technology services firms are filing more Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices as large contracts slow and onsite roles become harder to redeploy. DQIndia reported on April 16 that early-2026 filings may already exceed all of 2025, with notices tied to Infosys, HCL Technologies and Hinduja Global Solutions in states including Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania. (dqindia.com) The old services model depended on large junior teams doing maintenance, testing, support and client hand-holding, often billed by the hour and split between offshore centers in India and onsite staff near customers. DQIndia reported that AI-assisted workflows, remote delivery and smaller specialist teams are now reducing the need for those larger onsite groups. (dqindia.com) That is also changing who gets hired. Nasscom President Rajesh Nambiar told The New Indian Express on March 23 that India’s technology sector is moving from mass hiring to selective recruitment, with fresher intake still below pre-pandemic levels and companies prioritizing artificial-intelligence and problem-solving skills over volume. (newindianexpress.com) At the same time, India is not short of AI talent. Stanford’s AI Index 2026 found India had 50,460 top AI authors and inventors in 2025, second only to the United States at 220,520, according to figures reported by The Indian Express. (indianexpress.com) The same Stanford report said India led the world in net outflows of AI research talent in 2025, at minus 16.9, even as it posted the highest AI skill penetration rate at 3.0. The Indian Express reported that India also recorded an 88% enterprise AI adoption rate in 2025, up from 77% in 2024. (indianexpress.com) The government is trying to widen the pipeline. Communications Today, citing official IndiaAI Mission material and Stanford’s 2025 index, reported that India supports 500 doctoral scholars, 5,000 postgraduates and 8,000 undergraduates in AI-related work, and has set up 27 IndiaAI data and AI labs in tier-two and tier-three cities. (communicationstoday.co.in) Nasscom says the industry is still a net employer with nearly six million workers, but the jobs being added are no longer the easy entry points that defined the sector for two decades. The next phase looks more specialized, more automated and less forgiving for workers whose skills stop at routine delivery. (newindianexpress.com)