The dominant narrative is that AI is replacing jobs in the West. The early data tells a different story: global IT firms are doubling down on India for delivery and margins, so the first big labour story of the AI era is geographic before it is occupational. Headlines that focus only on layoffs miss the shift.
The Headlines Say AI Means Layoffs
Mint and other outlets have reported extensively on layoffs and slowdowns in Indian IT: TCS laying off roughly 12,000 employees in the current fiscal year, the top five Indian IT firms adding only 17 net employees in the first nine months of FY26 compared with 17,764 the previous year, and AI phobia and weak demand wiping billions from IT share prices. The narrative is that AI is killing jobs. According to Mint’s explainers and the Economic Times, the $200 billion outsourcing industry faces pressure from AI-driven automation and autonomous agents, and revenue forecasts have dropped. That story is real, but it is not the only one. The same period has seen global IT firms announce large India hiring plans and frame India as central to delivering AI-enabled work and improving margins.
The Early Trend Is India Hiring for Delivery and Margins
According to Mint’s reporting and the Economic Times, an early, contrarian trend has global IT firms hiring more in India to deliver growth and improve margins. Cognizant plans to hire about 24,000 to 25,000 freshers in 2026, a 20% increase over its 2025 intake, pursuing a “broader pyramid” strategy that uses AI to push high-value technical work toward entry-level roles and prioritises “learnability” over experience. Capgemini India employs roughly 230,000 people, about 55% of the company’s global workforce, and had planned to add 40,000 to 45,000 in India with a focus on an AI-ready workforce. The CIOL and Economic Times reported that Cognizant is betting on school graduates who have not learned outdated practices and that of 20,000 graduates hired in 2025, 16,000 are already deployed on client projects. The message from these firms is that the labour story is not only layoffs: it is a geographic and structural shift toward India for delivery and cost efficiency while AI reshapes how work is done.
Geographic Before Occupational
The real shift is where work is done before it is whether work exists. IBTimes and analysts have reported that big tech is offshoring more jobs to India in 2026, with US layoffs pushing workers to the brink and companies rehiring after AI-driven cuts either offshore or at lower pay. Telstra and Accenture moved 209 roles from their AI joint venture to India, citing cost and India’s AI expertise. A Blind survey cited by IBTimes found that 38% of respondents reported US-based roles being replaced by offshore workers in India. So the first big labour story is not simply “AI replaces jobs”; it is that firms are moving work to India for delivery and margins while automating and reshaping roles in both places. Mint’s framing—early, contrarian AI trend, global IT firms hiring more in India—captures that. Headlines that only say “AI layoffs” or “IT jobs vanishing” miss the geographic dimension.
What This Actually Means
The reader should treat the dominant narrative—AI equals layoffs—as incomplete. The early data shows global IT firms increasing India hiring for delivery and margins, and rehiring after Western layoffs offshore or at lower wages. That does not mean layoffs are irrelevant; TCS, Infosys, and others are cutting in India too, and the sector is under pressure. It means the first big labour story of the AI era is as much about geography as about occupation: work is moving to India and being reshaped by AI in both locations. Anyone who cares about labour outcomes should watch both the layoff headlines and the hiring and offshoring data.
Why Does the Narrative Focus on Layoffs?
Layoffs are visible and politically salient; hiring in India is dispersed across many firms and quarters. According to Computerworld and the Register, the top Indian IT firms added only 17 net employees in nine months and collectively laid off tens of thousands over 18 months, so the “hiring bust” story is real. But global firms like Cognizant and Capgemini are still adding in India because delivery and margins depend on it. The narrative focuses on layoffs because they make headlines; the geographic shift is the structural story that the headlines miss.
What Are Global IT Firms’ India Delivery Centres?
Global IT firms such as Cognizant, Capgemini, TCS, Infosys, and EPAM run large delivery and operations centres in India, employing hundreds of thousands of people. India became a major outsourcing destination from the 1980s onward, with cost advantages, skilled labour, and favourable policy; Y2K and the growth of the internet accelerated the shift. Today, firms use these centres for software development, support, and increasingly for AI-enabled delivery. Cognizant was founded in Chennai as an in-house technology unit in 1994 and is now headquartered in New Jersey with over 350,000 employees globally; Capgemini India alone has about 230,000 employees. The “early, contrarian” trend that Mint describes is that despite layoffs and margin pressure, many of these firms are still hiring in India—especially freshers and AI-ready roles—to deliver growth and improve margins, while reducing or reshaping headcount elsewhere.
Sources
Mint, The Economic Times, Computerworld, IBTimes UK, The Guardian