IT services pay will rise 6.6% in 2027. Inflation is already 5.5%.
India Inc plans 9.1% pay raises for 2027. IT services is lowest of 17 industries at 6.6%, about 1% after 5.54% inflation.
CapitalVia Research Desk ·
Data story · 22 Oct 2026
India's white-collar job market · September 2026
AI jobs grew 20%. Software jobs shrank 4%.
Overall white-collar hiring rose just 2% from September 2025. The growth went to skills, not to the sector everyone associates with tech.
+2%
All white-collar hiring
Index 3,002 → 3,053
+20%
Roles tagged AI/ML
Across all industries
−4%
IT-software & services
Index 3,585 → 3,432
Who is hiring more, who is hiring less
Change in new job postings, Sept 2026 vs Sept 2025
AI/ML rolesGrowingShrinkingIT-software
AI/ML roles
+20%
Auto
+11%
BPO / ITES
+4%
GCCs
+4%
Insurance
+1%
Retail
+1%
Banking & fin. services
0%
Real estate
0%
Oil & gas
−1%
Healthcare
−3%
IT-software & services
−4%
Pharma / biotech
−4%
FMCG
−4%
Hospitality
−11%
Telecom
−12%
Education
−18%
−20%0+20%
Employers want experience; freshers, less so
Change in hiring by years of experience, Sept 2026 vs Sept 2025
+1%
−2%
+5%
+7%
+5%
0–3years
4–7years
8–12years
13–15years
16+years
10×
In a job market growing 2%, roles tagged AI/ML grew 20%, ten times as fast. Employers are hiring for a skill, wherever it sits, more than for an industry.
Salaried
An "IT job" is no longer a growth category by itself. The skill on your profile now matters more than the sector on your payslip.
Founders
Most industries are hiring at or below last year's pace. AI/ML talent is the exception, so expect stiff competition and pay pressure for exactly those hires.
Leaders
Mid-career hiring (8–15 years) is growing fastest while 4–7 years fell. Plan pay and bench strength around that gap.
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Wholesale prices are rising 2.1x as fast as retail prices: WPI 11.39% vs CPI 5.54% in September 2026. The lines crossed in March.
Official urban inflation is 4.9%. Urban India feels 8.4%.
Households in 19 cities say inflation feels like 8.4%, 1.7× the official urban rate of 4.88%, and expect 10.0% a year from now.