Indian firms shift to contract hiring amid AI uncertainty, TeamLease

Indian companies are increasingly turning to contract and outsourced hiring as AI related uncertainty has firms rethinking their workforce planning, a top executive ​at staffing firm TeamLease Services said.

Firms across sectors are slowing ‌hiring and reassessing headcount needs as they experiment with AI-led automation, even as India remains a key global hiring market for multinational companies and global capability centres, Chief ​Financial Officer Ramani Dathi told Reuters in an interview.

“Firms that cut ​staff (numbers) by 50% after adopting AI tools were coming back ⁠within months saying they still needed people to manage them,” Dathi said, ​adding that the company was advising clients to keep 20%-30% of their ​workforce on outsourced or variable models.

The comments highlight a broader shift in hiring, with companies pivoting to flexible staffing and AI-led workforce realignments even as demand grows for specialised tech ​talent and GCCs expand beyond IT roles.

A report by job search portal ​Indeed and IT industry body Nasscom released found nearly all organisations expect their ‌2026 ⁠workforce strategy to centre on AI-related or AI-supported roles, while 40% expect a major workforce rejig.

Teamlease, which manages more than 340,000 associates and trainees, said it is currently able to fill only about 30% of open ​positions from clients because ​of mismatches on ⁠salary expectations, location preferences and required skills.

Nearly one-third of TeamLease’s GCC workforce are now in non-IT roles, Dathi said.

The ​company is also seeing rising demand for cybersecurity professionals ​with AI ⁠specialization, with firms willing to pay 30%-40% salary premiums for such talent, she added.

The trend mirrors broader industry demand, with the Indeed-Nasscom report showing nearly two ⁠thirds ​of employers across industries had increased hiring for ​AI-related roles over the past year, led by sectors such as banking, finance services, insurance and ​telecommunications. Reuters