India’s job market holds firm as data centre investment expands demand beyond tech
India’s data centre expansion is creating demand across technology, engineering, management and operations, while healthcare occupations are recording the strongest recent hiring growth, Indeed data shows.
The employment impact is extending beyond software and IT infrastructure.
NEW DELHI: India’s expanding data centre ecosystem is creating a broader layer of employment demand beyond traditional technology roles, even as overall job postings remain elevated, according to data from Indeed Hiring Lab.
In August 2026, data centres were mentioned in 1.3% of job postings in India, up from 1.0% a year earlier and nearly double the level recorded two years ago. The report also cites a recent KPMG estimate that data centres could represent a $90 billion opportunity for India by 2035.
The employment impact is extending beyond software and IT infrastructure. Callam Pickering, Senior Economist, APAC at Indeed, said data centres require workers across engineering, project management, business operations and other functions as companies invest in infrastructure to support AI and digital services.
Data centre hiring spans technology and non-tech roles
Software development accounted for 28% of data centre-related job postings during the 2025-26 financial year. IT infrastructure, operations and support represented 15.6%, while IT systems and solutions accounted for 7.1%.
Non-technology occupations also featured prominently. Management represented 9.9% of postings, followed by industrial engineering at 5.8%, sales at 5.2%, electrical engineering at 3.6% and project management at 3.5%.
The distribution reflects the range of skills required to build, operate and maintain large-scale data centre facilities.
Overall hiring remains above pre-pandemic levels
Indian job postings on Indeed increased 0.2% in August, taking the year-on-year increase to 7.4%. Despite recent volatility, postings remained 85% above pre-pandemic levels.
Indeed cautions that its data captures recruitment by companies and organisations in the formal economy and does not represent India’s entire labour market, which includes substantial informal employment. The platform also notes that its data is skewed towards technology, management and sales roles.
Healthcare leads recent hiring growth
While data centre investment is expanding employment demand across multiple functions, recent hiring growth has been strongest in healthcare and other people-intensive occupations.
Over the past three months, job postings increased in nearly 80% of occupations. Childcare postings rose 27%, nursing 23%, pharmacy 20% and physicians and surgeons 17%. Dental roles increased 16%, while medical technician postings rose 14%.
Technology-related hiring, meanwhile, has weakened over the same period. IT infrastructure, operations and support postings declined 20%, software development fell 19%, data and analytics dropped 14%, and IT systems and solutions declined 7.6%.
Despite the decline, the report says the overall volume of technology job postings remains well above pre-pandemic levels.
Pickering said the strongest recent hiring growth is coming from healthcare and other occupations that rely on human expertise and are less easily substituted by technology.
Data centres could widen the employment impact of AI
The report suggests that the employment consequences of AI adoption may extend beyond the automation or restructuring of existing jobs. Investment in the physical infrastructure required to operate AI services at scale is itself generating demand for a diverse workforce.
According to Indeed, data centre investment is still at an early stage, with employment opportunities expected to expand across a broad range of occupations and industries as the sector develops over the coming years.
