India’s semiconductor design Global Capability Centres (GCCs) experienced a slowdown in hiring through most of 2025, according to Careernet’s latest report. Job openings across the top 50 GCCs steadily declined between January and October, reflecting global demand normalisation and tighter cost controls. However, the final quarter of the year showed cautious recovery, with November and December recording the strongest month-on-month increase in openings, though still below early-2025 levels.
Large GCCs with more than 5,000 employees saw the widest swings in hiring, while smaller centres reacted more quickly to market changes. Mid-sized GCCs remained relatively stable. Importantly, every size category recorded at least one month of positive hiring momentum in the fourth quarter, signalling selective recovery rather than a broad rebound.
Core VLSI roles dominated demand, accounting for 44 per cent of open positions in the final quarter. Within this segment, verification (28 per cent) and front-end design (26 per cent) led hiring, followed by physical verification (18 per cent) and physical design (14 per cent). System and application software roles contributed 40 per cent of openings, highlighting the growing overlap between hardware design and software optimisation.
The report suggests India’s semiconductor GCCs are shifting from expansion-led hiring to prioritising specialised roles that deliver long-term intellectual property value. This reflects a structural change in the ecosystem, with organisations focusing on design excellence, advanced capabilities, and AI-adjacent skills.
Government support for research and development (R&D), domestic IP creation, and industry-led skilling is reinforcing this transition. As a result, India is evolving from a cost-efficient design hub into a capability-driven semiconductor powerhouse. The cautious rebound in late 2025 is expected to set the stage for more targeted, skills-first hiring in the years ahead.