Hyderabad:The city, one of India’s biggest IT hubs, is seeing a small drop in hiring for entry‑level white‑collar jobs. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is changing routine coding, testing and support work in major IT areas like Hitec City, Gachibowli and the Financial District. While the city still leads in AI‑related jobs across India, fresh graduates looking for traditional “pure coding” roles are finding fewer openings. Companies now want people who can work with AI, not just write code.

The World Bank’s World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence says only 4.5 per cent of jobs in low‑ and middle‑income countries, including India, are being automated by generative AI, compared with 14.2 per cent in high‑income economies. But entry‑level white‑collar jobs are being hit hard. Monthly job postings for the most affected roles have fallen sharply, especially for fresh graduates.

“We are seeing fewer openings for pure coding and testing roles that can be partly handled by AI tools,” said Ravi Teja, a senior HR manager at a mid‑sized IT firm in Madhapur. “Companies are looking for people who can work with AI, not just write code.” Campus hiring has dropped sharply over the past year, with recruitment falling to less than one‑third of what it was in the previous two years, an IT expert said.

AI and machine learning job postings in India grew 25 per cent in June 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as overall IT hiring fell by 3 per cent, according to World Bank data. Hyderabad and Bengaluru lead India in AI job share, with Hyderabad accounting for nearly 9.57 per cent of national AI‑related white‑collar job listings.

“The transition period calls for focused skill‑building,” said Anand Varma, a software training expert and former IT architect based in Kaithalapur. “At entry level, freshers should concentrate on three key areas: learning how to use AI tools effectively for coding and development, gaining skills in data analysis using Python and SQL, and understanding the basics of deploying applications on cloud platforms. At mid‑level, professionals can secure their careers by learning to design solutions with AI support, picking up essentials of managing machine learning systems, and specialising in automation within specific sectors like banking, healthcare or logistics.”

He advised entry‑level candidates to learn how to write effective prompts for code generation, debugging and documentation, become comfortable with data handling tools like Pandas and SQL, and get hands‑on experience with cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP) and automated deployment pipelines. For mid‑level professionals, he recommended shifting from just executing tasks to designing solutions using AI assistants, learning skills like monitoring, versioning and deploying machine learning models, and focusing on a specific area such as fraud detection, claims processing or logistics optimisation where AI can deliver clear value.

The report estimates AI could perform 9–17 per cent of tasks currently carried out by India’s non‑agricultural workforce, reshaping roles rather than eliminating them outright. World Bank managing director Paschal Donohoe said AI offers India “big opportunities to boost jobs and living standards” if the country closes gaps in power, connectivity, skills and institutions. For India’s white‑collar workforce, the message is clear: AI is not yet causing mass layoffs, but it is compressing entry‑level hiring in exposed roles and accelerating demand for AI‑augmented skills. Hyderabad’s position as a leading AI job market suggests that reskilling initiatives aligned with industry needs could convert this disruption into a hiring advantage for the next cycle.


Tags: