Budget 2026: 6 Sectors From IT To Healthcare, One Big Hiring Shift; What Industry Wants From FM Sitharaman?

Expectations from all sectors are coming closer together as India prepares for the Union Budget 2026: creating employment via capability-building rather than just raising headcount. Industries are now looking for policy support that ties labour reforms, skill development, and technology adoption with long-term productivity enhancements after a period of cautious hiring and margin-focused growth.

Employers, particularly outside of metropolitan areas, are reorienting their workforce strategy toward specialized roles, digital compliance, and the creation of high-value employment opportunities across a variety of industries, including IT, healthcare, auto components, BFSI, and semiconductors.

Therefore, participants see the upcoming budget as an essential driver of value-led employment creation, seeking major EPFO changes, better digital and physical infrastructure, easier labor compliance, and consistency in incentives. In the coming years, recruiting momentum across industries will be shaped by how well the Budget strikes a balance between these structural enablers and budgetary restraint, according to Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital.

IT/ Tech

India's IT hiring is moving from volume to value, with growing demand for specialised roles in AI, data platforms, cloud security and product engineering. "In the upcoming budget, I would expect attention on building digital infrastructure, AI ecosystems and cloud platforms, alongside focused skills, specially in Tier-2 & Tier 3 cities," said Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital.

A strong push on AI, data infrastructure, R&D and digital upskilling can turn technology investments into real jobs and productivity gains. Support for deep-tech startups, stronger research ecosystems, simpler digital labour compliance and an expanded EPFO wage ceiling will together help create sustainable, high-value tech jobs and position India for long-term global leadership.

Healthcare/Lifesciences

Hiring in healthcare and Life sciences is moving towards more capabilities,, with steady demand for specialised roles like regulatory affairs, quality, clinical data management and pharmacovigilance, even as hiring in general operations remains cautious and retention pressures continue.

"My key ask from the upcoming budget is simpler digital compliance for MSMEs, a higher EPFO wage ceiling, and clear rules for contract and shift-based roles. Sustainable growth in healthcare jobs will come from building specialised skills, not just expanding headcount," said Neeti Sharma.

Auto component/Engineering

Higher EV adoption will directly shape hiring demand in the sector. The upcoming budget can accelerate this by expanding charging infrastructure, bringing uniform GST across EV components, and strengthening domestic value creation in batteries, power electronics and supply chains.

These moves translate into real hiring needs across EV software, power electronics, battery quality, homologation and smart-factory automation.

A stronger push on apprenticeships and employment under the labour codes will help companies hire with confidence and create stable, high-quality jobs across Tier-1, Tier-2 suppliers and the broader EV ecosystem.

BFSI

The expectation from the upcoming budget is to enable the sector to grow financial inclusion at scale, through stronger MSME credit, wider insurance reach and a stronger focus on building public digital public.

Clear implementation of labour codes, EPFO reforms for contract workers, and simpler compliances will help the sector hire more people , faster and create more jobs across the system.

Semiconductor

This budget should focus on building execution discipline within the sector - continuity of incentives, predictable payouts, ecosystem infrastructure like testing/certification facilities, and enhanced R&D credits rewarding domestic value-addition.

"These will create more demand for process engineers, yield/reliability experts, advanced packaging technicians, and design-system professionals across physical design, verification, DFT, and cleanroom operations. Labour codes and EPFO expansions strengthen talent pipelines, ensuring capital investments yield enduring, high-quality jobs India needs," said Neeti Sharma.

AI across industries

AI adoption is fundamentally changing workforce capability and composition across industries, as we witness surging demand for hybrid profiles, operations professionals with data fluency, domain experts collaborating alongside automation, and technicians maintaining AI infrastructure.

This budget should prioritize large-scale reskilling programs, forward-looking labour frameworks recognizing emerging job families, and EPFO reforms enhancing skilled worker retention. The true employment impact will depend on how effectively skills transformation keeps pace with AI deployment velocity.

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