During the peak years, more than 283,000 Indian software engineers had active H-1B work visas.
Job losses in the tech industry have been increasing in the last two years globally. In recent years, GCC has expanded hiring of tech professionals. Global Capability Centers (GCCs), also known as captive centers or shared services centers, are wholly-owned subsidiaries of multinational companies that deliver technology, analytics, R&D, engineering, finance, HR, and operations services to their parent organisations. Artificial intelligence has become a key catalyst for this growth. Apart from GCCs, the start up ecosystem including large Unicorn are increasing employment for tech professionals. most are in hiring mode While there is no official count specifically for tech professionals employed by startups. Most of these jobs involve knowledge of coding or AI.
In 2025, over 122,000 tech jobs were eliminated across 278 companies and in 333 layoff events. And in 2026 (till early October 2026) over 130,000 tech jobs were eliminated across 311 companies in 351 layoff events according to an estimate by Layoffs FYI, an industry tracker. The combined total is roughly 253,000 tech jobs lost across 2025 and 2026-to-date. Founder of Layoffs.fyi, AI was cited in 33% of tech layoff events in 2026, up from just 1% in 2024, according to Roger Lee. India’s GCC ecosystem expanded to 2,117 centres operating through 3,728 units by FY26, employing 2.36 million professionals and generating $98.4 billion in revenue, according to a joint report by Nasscom and Zinnov. Since FY21, the number of GCCs has increased by 32%, with 506 Forbes Global 2000 companies establishing operations in India. Nearly half of all GCCs established since FY21 were designed with AI at their core, and more than 1,200 centres have integrated AI and machine learning capabilities into their operations. This transformation is supported by over 250 dedicated Centres of Excellence and a talent pool of approximately 250,000 AI professionals, reinforcing India’s position as a strategic hub for AI-led innovation and enterprise transformation. DPIIT-recognised startups had created more than 2.33 million direct jobs by FY2025-26, with total recognised startups exceeding 223,000, according to India’s Startup India program.
Many professionals are moving from legacy IT companies to GCCs, according to industry estimates.
