Tech Layoffs in First Half of 2026 Already Surpass All of 2025, India Second-Worst Hit

Technology sector layoffs in the first half of 2026 have already exceeded the total job cuts recorded in all of 2025, according to data reported by NDTV, marking a sharp and accelerating deterioration in employment conditions across the global tech industry. India ranks as the second-worst affected country in this wave of retrenchments.

The scale of the cuts in just six months surpassing an entire year's worth of layoffs signals that the industry downturn — driven by a combination of AI-driven automation, post-pandemic overcorrection, and macroeconomic tightening — is deepening rather than stabilising. For India, the stakes are particularly high: the IT and tech-services sector is one of the country's largest formal employers, sustaining millions of middle-class families and contributing enormously to export earnings.

India's second-place ranking globally reflects both the sheer size of its tech workforce and the country's central role in global IT services delivery. Major technology companies — both Indian IT firms and multinational captive centres — have been rationalising headcount as clients reduce discretionary technology spending and as AI tools begin automating tasks previously performed by large teams.

The human cost is significant: engineers, analysts, and support staff across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and other tech hubs are navigating a jobs market considerably tighter than even a year ago. The trend is also likely to bear on consumer spending, housing markets in tech cities, and the broader economic mood heading into the second half of the year.