Hiring activity in India's technology sector is expanding beyond the country's largest cities, with Tier-2 locations recording faster growth than metro markets as global capability centres (GCCs) widen their footprint and employers add engineering, analytics and AI-related roles.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are seeing a larger share of new technology hiring even as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other metro cities continue to account for most job openings.
Online talent and employment platform foundit said Tier-2 cities now account for 15% of GCC hiring and recorded 23% year-on-year growth, almost twice the pace of metro cities. Cities including Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam are attracting investment in engineering, analytics and AI-enabled operations, supported by talent availability and lower attrition than Tier-1 cities.
Xpheno's July 2026 Active Tech Jobs Outlook also pointed to growing hiring outside major cities. Active technology openings in Tier-2 and Tier-3 locations rose 14% from June and were 99% higher than a year earlier, although from a lower base. Metro cities still accounted for 66,000 active technology openings, while Tier-2 and Tier-3 locations accounted for 40,000.
However, Bengaluru still remains the country's largest technology hiring market. foundit said the city accounted for 30% of GCC hiring, followed by Hyderabad at 15%, Pune at 12%, Mumbai at 11%, Chennai at 9% and Delhi NCR at 8%.
Meanwhile, Xpheno estimated Bengaluru would record 24,000 active technology openings in July, ahead of Hyderabad and Delhi NCR with 9,000 openings each, and Pune and Chennai with 6,000 each.
foundit said GCC hiring is expected to reach 510,452 jobs in 2026, with AI, engineering and digital functions accounting for most new roles. It added that companies are expanding operations beyond traditional metro locations as capability centres take on more global technology work.
"Companies are no longer setting up Global Capability Centres simply to reduce costs. They are building them to develop the AI, engineering and product capabilities that run their global businesses. India offers the depth of talent to do this at scale, and the growing pull of Tier 2 cities shows how far that capability now extends beyond the traditional metros," said Tarun Sinha, CEO, foundit.
Xpheno said active demand from GCCs reached 18,000 openings in July, up 6% from the previous month and 29% higher than a year earlier, while overall technology hiring showed a month-on-month recovery after declining in June.