Majority of Indian professionals plan to switch jobs in 2026, many feel unprepared: LinkedIn

New Delhi: A significant percentage of Indian professionals are looking for a new role in 2026, but many feel lost in an AI-driven hiring process amid rising competition, uncertainty about role fit and skills gaps, according to a LinkedIn report.

As per the new research from LinkedIn, 84 per cent of professionals feel unprepared to find a new job, amid the rise of AI in the hiring process, rapidly shifting skill requirements for today’s jobs, and an increasingly competitive, but selective, job market.

According to LinkedIn data, applicants per open role in India have more than doubled since early 2022, intensifying competition and leaving many feeling unprepared. Moreover, nearly 74 per cent of Indian recruiters said it has become harder over the last year to find qualified talent.

"AI is now a foundational part of how careers are built and how talent is evaluated across India's job market. What professionals need most is a clear understanding of how their skills translate into opportunity and how hiring decisions are actually made.

"When used with purpose, AI tools can bridge that gap by helping people identify the roles they're right for, prepare with intent, and focus their learning where it matters most," said Nirajita Banerjee, LinkedIn Career Expert and Senior Managing Editor, LinkedIn India News.

This year's LinkedIn's India Jobs on the Rise report ranks Prompt Engineer, AI Engineer, and Software Engineer as the top three job roles showing sustained demand for AI and tech talent.

Beyond pure tech, the rankings show healthy demand across sales and brand strategy, cybersecurity, and advisory functions, as per LinkedIn.

For improving job search and role matching, LinkedIn also offers a wide range of AI tools, including AI-powered job search, which lets members search for jobs in their own words and discover roles they might never have thought to look for.

The Consumer and Global HR Professionals Research was conducted by Censuswide in November 2025 among 19,113 respondents who work full time/part time or who are unemployed but are currently looking for a role (aged 18-79) between November 13 and November 28, 2025, and among 6,554 global HR professionals between November 10 and November 27, 2025.