Now Reading: India’s telecom sector pauses hiring as AI and automation take over
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India’s telecom sector pauses hiring as AI and automation take over
India's top three telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, added only 30,000 employees combined over the past five years, as 5G rollouts near completion and companies shift to AI…
The Story in Brief
India's top three telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, added only 30,000 employees combined over the past five years, as 5G rollouts near completion and companies shift to AI and automation, Mint reports. Hiring has slowed for field engineers and project managers, with focus moving to cloud and AI specialists.
Jio's workforce dropped over 10% since FY22, partly due to converting full-time roles into micro-entrepreneurships. The sector's total debt stood at Rs 6.45 trillion as of March 2025, pushing operators to rely on cheaper third-party contracts instead of direct hires.
The Indian Opinion
The telecom industry's claim of a 'natural transition' to AI-led operations masks a deeper story of jobless growth and rising contractual labour. A 21% drop in Jio's direct workforce in FY26, while their indirect micro-entrepreneur army expands, shows where the real cost-cutting is. Watch for the quarterly filings: if revenue per employee keeps rising while overall headcount stagnates, the human cost of this automation drive will be clear.
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
