India's six largest IT services companies employed 24,422 fewer people in their IT and engineering functions in October 2026 than a year earlier, according to data from specialist staffing firm Xpheno reported by The Economic Times — a sign that exits are outpacing hiring at the top of India's software industry.

Source: The Economic Times via TradingView

The combined headcount of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree fell nearly 3% to 797,722 (yaani about 7.98 lakh employees) in October 2026, from 822,144 in October 2025, LatestLY reported, citing the same Xpheno figures.

Source: LatestLY

The six firms together recorded about 92,000 employee exits over the 12 months, in line with the industry's normal attrition rate of 11-15%, while new intake in IT and engineering functions totalled about 68,000. Exits exceeded hiring in five of the last six months, The Economic Times reported.

Source: The Economic Times via TradingView

Xpheno chief executive Francis Padamadan said annual attrition has remained at 11-15%, but companies have not necessarily refilled the seats that fell vacant. Staffing firm TeamLease Digital attributed the decline to a combination of workforce optimisation and changing technology requirements, with artificial intelligence reducing the need for routine work in some traditional IT roles.

Source: The Economic Times via TradingView

The figures are a net headcount reduction — exits minus hiring — and do not mean every missing position was a layoff. Analysts cited in the reports said demand remains strong for specialised skills in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity and engineering, even as routine application maintenance, manual testing and infrastructure-support roles come under pressure. Sources: The Economic Times (via TradingView) and LatestLY, both October 22, 2026.

Source: LatestLY