66% of Indian techies expect layoffs, most fear hiring freeze: Survey

As advances in artificial intelligence continue to accelerate, employees worldwide are gripped by the fear that they will inevitably lose their jobs to AI regardless of their professional profiles and roles. Companies in the United States are increasingly citing investments in the booming tech sector as the primary factor driving cost-cutting initiatives, including layoffs. And now, surveyed data shows that more and more tech workers in India are starting to believe that AI will soon sound the death knell of their careers.

One would’ve thought that working in AI-related fields would offer a safety net amidst an uncertain job market. However, the data paints a different picture.

AI workers in India report one of the highest perceived layoff fears

A new survey by Blind, the anonymous community platform for professionals, shows that India-based AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) roles report one of the highest layoff fears of any function, with 66% expecting a layoff or major headcount cut in their team within the next three to six months.

The poll conducted among 1,552 India-based professionals in July across teams and functions further revealed that those in AI/ML jobs came second to Sales/Marketing leads (68%) in terms of assuming that their jobs are most at risk in the age of AI. Product/Design follows closely behind at 65%, revealing that switching to AI/ML jobs doesn’t automatically safeguard an employee’s job, as they are just as much at risk as others.

Employees’ AI-driven fears aren’t directly associated with potentially imminent layoffs. According to the Blind survey, “quiet signs” like hiring freezes, budget or headcount-target cuts are other major factors. The poll found that formal layoff announcements account for just 9% of those feeling their teams are at risk, while hiring freezes sit at 27%, budget or headcount-target cuts at 24%, projects cancelled or deprioritised at 12%, rising PIP or bench policy at 11%, and “no warning signals right now” at 24%.

However, engineers feel safer

Despite popular beliefs that engineering would be swallowed up by the AI boom, the Blind survey shows that only a minority of 24% of engineers claim a layoff is “very likely,” the lowest of any function. Meanwhile, the overall at-risk sentiment stands at 58%, which is below the survey average.

At-risk sentiment among workers in Data/Analytics sits lower at 51%, and 4 in 10 of its workers believe a cut is unlikely, the highest of any team.

Data tied to company-based fears

Blind’s survey further revealed that companies where employees at enterprise software and payments firms feel most at risk, with Salesforce (81%) and Oracle (80%) occupying the top positions, followed by Uber (77%) and PayPal (75%).

Meanwhile, India’s own SaaS firms Zoho and Freshworks sit on the other side of the spectrum, feeling the safest. Only 9% of surveyed Zoho employees and 44% of Freshworks workers expect a cut in their team in the next three to six months.

Regardless of how the employees feel, some executives have chosen to opt for a different narrative altogether.

Top Indian companies’ hiring and layoff data

As India’s largest IT exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a drastic decline in its headcounts for FY 2026, with the company ending its March quarter with a total workforce of 584,519, down 23,460 from the previous year. The company’s chief human resource officer Sudeep Kunnummal also told The Times of India in April that TCS onboarded 44,000 trainees in FY26, and the company reported a net addition of 2,356 employees sequentially in the latest quarter.

Meanwhile, India’s fourth-largest software services exporter, Wipro, reported a fall in attrition to 13.8% from 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Having recorded a net addition of 6,529 employees in the December quarter, the company added only 136 employees between January and March, bringing its total headcount to 242,156.

TCS, Wipro and other top Indian IT services giants, including Infosys, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra, collectively posted a net reduction of 6,981 employees in FY26, as opposed to a net addition of 12,718 the previous year, the Economic Times reported, citing data from official company filings.

What are officials saying?

Earlier this year, the head of India’s largest IT services company shut down fears that AI will lead to mass layoffs. TCS CEO K Krithivasan told the Financial Times, “There will always be some segment within some small pockets within the company who will not fit in the scheme of things. AI is not going to create lay-offs by itself.”

Even some top officials in the US have opted against “blaming” AI for layoffs.

Just this week, Michael Kratsios, President Donald Trump’s science and technology advisor said during a podcast, “I think like a lot of folks these days like when they’re doing a layoff that they would have done anyway, just like to assign it or blame it to AI because it plays better in the press,” adding, “I believe in the long term, I’m very optimistic about the impact that AI’s going to have on jobs.”

Back in May, even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reprimanded the increasing number of executives for blaming their company layoffs on AI. In an interview with Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia, he said, “I think the narrative that connects AI to job loss for many of the CEOs that are doing it, it is just too lazy.”

Asking, “AI has just arrived. How is it possible they’re already losing jobs?” Huang dug deeper, “How is it possible that AI became productive and useful only six months ago, and they were somehow laying people off two years ago because of AI?”