AI/ML hiring up 20%, IT services down 4%

India's white-collar hiring grew only 2% year-on-year in September 2026, with the Naukri JobSpeak Index at 3,053 versus 3,002 a year earlier. The headline number hides a sharp split: AI/ML roles grew 20%, auto 11%, and BPO/ITES and GCCs 4% each, while IT/Software Services, Pharma/Biotech and FMCG each declined 4% and healthcare fell 3%. Hospitality and Travel dropped 11% and Education 18%. Demand skewed senior: hiring rose 5% for 8-12 year professionals, 7% for 13-16 years and 5% for 16+ years. Hyderabad led metros with 9% growth, per the report. Key signal: Naukri JobSpeak rose to 3,053 in September 2026, up just 2% YoY, with AI/ML hiring up 20% while IT/Software Services hiring fell 4%. For hiring leaders, this matters because the flat 2% headline is the real story. India's largest tech employment engine, IT/Software Services, is contracting 4% while AI/ML grows 20% — that is not a rising tide, it is a reallocation. For CHROs and GCC leaders, the implication is that generic engineering capacity is now oversupplied while AI-adjacent skills are scarce and priced accordingly. The seniority skew (8-16+ years growing fastest) signals that firms are buying judgement and architecture, not headcount. If your hiring plan assumes IT services volume recovery, it is built on the wrong index. Teksands view: The 2% headline is noise; the 20% vs -4% split is the signal. India's tech hiring is no longer one market — it is an AI market and a legacy services market moving in opposite directions. TA leaders benchmarking AI roles against IT services pay bands will keep losing candidates. GCCs and product firms in Hyderabad are already pricing this correctly.