Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix ramp up India hiring as H-1B rules tighten; 32,000 jobs added in 2025

What roles are in demand?

According to data from Xpheno and TeamLease Digital, the current active job openings from the FAAMNG cohort stand over 3,000 – 5,000.

Despite the spurt in headcount addition, the American tech giants continue to hire only for targeted roles rather than generalist roles, said Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital.

In 2025, big tech’s top hires were focused on newer digital skills such as AI/ML ops, data roles in engineering, analytics, cloud and cybersecurity and governance. While net headcount growth is still stunted as per TeamLease’s analysis, demand for these roles have gone up by almost 25-30 per cent.

“Demand is majorly concentrated on high-value, specialised tech skills rather than legacy support functions, reflecting strategic shifts toward innovation and emerging tech adoption,” said Sharma.

Karanth, however, added that the impact of AI deployment is yet to be fully noticed in the hiring funnel, as these companies are hiring more for adjacent skill sets that will expand AI capabilities, and not directly AI roles.

“The changes in hiring, owing to AI, will be evident in the next 2 - 3 year period,” he said.

What’s driving these numbers?

The year was marked by the tech giants, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, among others, doubling down on their investments into developing AI infrastructure and expanding workforce in the country.

Meanwhile, new-age AI companies such as Perplexity AI and Open AI are seeing India emerging as one of their top consumer markets, propelling them to set up offices and data centres in the country.

This bullishness on India has also coincided with the significant changes in the H-1B visa application rules in the US – a critical non-immigrant visa used by American tech companies to hire skilled talent from foreign countries. Each year, nearly 70-75 per cent of these visas end up getting allocated to Indian applicants.

But in 2025, the US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new visa applications and implemented a lottery system that will give preference to high skilled and high waged individuals.

While a lot of the net headcount growth was driven by pent-up demand in the cohort, Karanth said, “Developments related to potential tariffs on services, increase in cost of talent with H-1B fee revisions and a probable HIRE Act impact have all influenced this cohort to relook at their talent plans for India.”

“While playing cautious on this front, a faster loading of reasonable talent volume in India can be seen in the trend. The skill and cost arbitrages that India offers through local talent engagement, is definitely lucrative compared to local talent costs,” he added.

How much are the big techs investing in India?

Big Techs have been moving fast to expand their presence in India, hedging their global positions and access to talent pool.

In just the October-December quarter, Google announced a $15-billion investment to set up a large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam. This is expected to create over 100,000 jobs over the next five years.

Microsoft has committed $17.5 billion to accelerate the country’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, skilling, and sovereign digital capabilities.

Amazon is investing $35 billion in India over the next five years, boosting its businesses from quick commerce to cloud computing. They expect to create an additional 1 million jobs in India by 2030.

These were the tech majors' biggest investments announced in India till date, reflecting the country’s strategic importance.

Additionally, in August 2025, OpenAI announced that it will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year.

Prior to that, Microsoft leased 2.65 lakh sq. ft. of prime office space in Hyderabad, with a monthly rent of about Rs 5.4 crore. In July, Apple inked a 10-year lease for office floors in Bengaluru worth over Rs 1,010 crore.

At the beginning of the year, Meta announced that it is opening a new office in Bengaluru and hiring for engineering and product roles in the country’s tech capital.

And in April, Google also unveiled its new Bengaluru campus, Ananta, one of its largest offices globally.

How does the H-1B curbs affect 2026 hiring?

Industry experts foresee a spillover effect of the H-1B curbs driving local hiring in India in 2026. There may be a moderation in hiring volume later in the year, once there is more clarity around talent movement, purchase of services and sending jobs overseas by US firms.

“A negotiated H1B regime may result in restart of local expat talent hiring and talent migration, however overseas locations will remain competitive on a dollar & cent basis,” Karanth said.

He added, “Engaging talent in India remains a cost-effective option even after factoring in a 25 per cent cess that the proposed HIRE act may bring in. However, the immediate effect of the H-1B policy is not visible in the active hiring funnels of the FAAMNG cohort.”

Even as conventional tech and IT hiring will mostly be for replacement roles and will grow in lower single digits, Big Tech hiring is expected to grow at about 16-20 per cent in 2026 as well, according to TeamLease’s Sharma.

“But the hiring will be increasingly selective and capability-led, focused on AI, data platforms, cloud infrastructure, and security,” she said.

Sharma added that more than H-1B curbs directly triggering hiring plans, the headcount addition strategies will revolve around reshaping delivery models, pushing firms to reduce onsite dependency and deepen India-based ownership of global products and platforms.

Ultimately, the bottom line remains that India will continue to see big tech jobs coming in, despite global layoffs and hiring slowdown in the era of AI-led productivity gains and job role redundancies.