Emerging Tech Industry To Contribute 20 percent Of New Jobs In 2025: Report

FirstMeridian Business Service, a Human Resource (HR) platform on Tuesday said Indian IT is poised to cover a promising growth journey in the coming year as new technologies are likely to see 20 per cent increase in new jobs in 2025. It highlighted new employment opportunities in 2024 and attributed the surge to the IT and tech ecosystem driven by rapid digital transformation and the concurrent rising demand for emerging tech niche job profiles.

FirstMeridian Business Service CEO, IT Staffing, Sunil Nehra said, “After a muted H1, the sector regained momentum, as we gear up for 2025, these trends will continue, while also eyeing an average 20 per cent rise in profiles like application developers, software engineers, DevOps engineers, AI, ML, and Cyber Security.”

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Nehra further expressed expected acceleration in Artificial Intelligence in 2025 as it was a major trend in 2024

Nehra said that the Gen-AI industry is likely to create 1 million new job opportunities by 2028, adding that high demand for roles like data analysts, data engineers, data scientists, and others is set to expand the IT sector.

Salaries for Gen-AI positions like Generative AI engineer, Algorithm engineer, and AI security specialist are projected to rise from the previous year, indicating a 25-30 per cent upward trend in compensation for the mid-level category.

“As we move towards an evolving IT landscape in 2025, there will be an essential focus on tech upskilling to cultivate a robust workforce pool. The majority of large enterprises and mid-sized companies are expected to marginally increase their upskilling budgets by an average of 15-20 per cent in 2025,” Nehra said.

Additionally, he said that individuals will continue taking the initiative for their own upskilling efforts to prepare for promising new-age tech roles.

The emerging sector of the Indian IT gig economy is also projected to grow by three times and employ 24 million people by 2030.

This demand is expected to follow a 1:1 ratio between tier I and II cities.

The growth underscores a rising dependence on flexible talent solutions to address the evolving needs of the tech landscape.

“Companies are increasingly turning to gig workers for their specialised expertise and adaptability, driving hiring trends toward niche technical roles and project-based engagements, making the gig economy a key player in shaping the future of IT talent,” Nehra stated.

Although the Indian IT ecosystem stabilised to a larger extent, the sector still faces a few challenges, including a talent shortage in emerging fields like AI and cybersecurity, and the impact of global economic instabilities, he noted.