Representative image for hiring.
Credit: iStock
Bengaluru: The country's technology sector is set to witness positive signs in terms of hiring in February, as active talent demand moves up by 8% month-on-month. According to specialist staffing firm Xpheno, this is the first significant move up after a sluggish six-month run since August last year.
The report said February 2026 is set to open with a strong rise in full-time remote openings, along with a significant sequential drop in hybrid openings. This comes at a time when IT firms are mandating full-time Work From Office. Of total active tech jobs, job openings in Bengaluru alone are 26,000, which is an 8% increase compared to January 2026 and a 23% drop year-on-year.
Also, February opens with a Tech Jobs outlook for 109,000 active openings in the tech talent market in the country. The tech sector’s current contribution to India’s total active talent demand is 51%, going past the 50% mark for the third time in over 3 years now, according to Kamal Karanth, co-founder, Xpheno.
The tech openings for February 2026 have a 42% freshness index, with nearly half of all openings being published or refreshed in the last 2-week period.
Meanwhile, acquiring Artificial Intelligence (AI) and GenAI skills has become a strategic priority for senior employees. Professionals with over 15 years of work experience accounted for over 40% of all GenAI and AI / ML (Machine Learning) enrolments in the edtech platform Great Learning.
As senior leaders are expected to drive AI-led transformation, guide organisational strategy, and make informed decisions in increasingly data-driven environments, these top executives view such skills as essential for both strategic decision-making and for leadership effectiveness.
Both AI and ML continue to emerge as the most sought-after upskilling domains among professionals in 2025, accounting for 17% increase in year-on-year demand for the domain. This was followed by domains like Data Science, Software Development, Cloud Computing, and Cyber Security, Great Learning said in its insights.
Also, the demand for upskilling was highest among freshers and early-career professionals with 0–3 years of work experience, accounting to 48% of enrolments.
The Economic Survey 2026 also highlighted the need for upskilling in this AI era. Though 78% of professionals say that ongoing upskilling is critical for long-term career growth, according to a new survey by jobs and talent platform foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME), strong intent is being undermined by structural constraints. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say lack of time or high course costs are holding them back from upskilling consistently, resulting in only 43% managing to learn on a weekly basis.