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

Naukri's JobSpeak Index for September 2026 rose to 3,053 from 3,002 a year earlier — a 2% uptick that masks a sharply selective market. AI and machine learning roles grew 20% YoY, auto grew 11%, and BPO, ITES and GCC hiring each rose 4%. But IT & software services, pharma, biotech and FMCG all declined 4%, education fell 18% and hospitality 11%. Experience is being repriced: hiring rose 5% for the 8-12 year band, 7% for 13-16 years and 5% for 16-plus, while the 4-7 year band shrank 2% and fresher hiring crawled at 1%. Hyderabad led metros at 9% growth, Chennai 6%, Bengaluru and Kolkata 4% each, while Delhi-NCR and Mumbai both fell 6%. Key signal: AI/ML roles grew 20% YoY in September while overall white-collar hiring rose just 2%, and IT & software services hiring actually fell 4%. For hiring leaders, this matters because the headline number is a trap. A 2% market with 20% AI/ML growth and a 4% contraction in core IT services means the aggregate is hiding a structural reallocation of budgets, not a slowdown. For CHROs and delivery heads, the risk is planning headcount against the index rather than against the skill mix. The experience premium — growth concentrated in 8-16+ year bands while 4-7 years shrinks — signals that companies are buying judgement and AI fluency, not capacity. And the NCR/Mumbai decline versus Hyderabad's 9% tells you where GCC and product money is actually landing. Comp bands, campus plans and location strategy all need to be rebuilt around this split. Teksands view: Stop reading the 2% headline. The market is splitting: AI/ML up 20%, core IT services down 4%, and the 4-7 year experience band shrinking while 8-16+ year hiring grows. That is a seniority and skills repricing, not a recovery. Hyderabad and Chennai are absorbing the demand; NCR and Mumbai are losing it. Rebuild your FY27 hiring plan around AI-adjacent senior roles and fix the thinning mid-level bench now — otherwise you are recruiting for a market that has already moved.