66% of AI Practitioners in India Expect Layoffs, Hiring Freezes Are the Earliest Signal of Layoff Expectations
An anonymous workplace community platform, Blind, conducted a survey showing that 66% of AI and machine learning practitioners in India expect layoffs or significant staff reductions in their teams within the next 3 to 6 months.
The survey, conducted in July 2026, covered 1,552 Indian professionals. The expectation of layoffs in AI/ML roles is second only to sales and marketing at 68%, and close to product and design at 65%.
The expectation for engineering roles is the lowest, with only 24% believing layoffs are "very likely," and the overall risk perception at 58% is below average; data and analytics roles have a risk perception of 51%.
Respondents pointed out that the main signals are hiring freezes (27%) and budget or personnel target reductions (24%), with formal layoff announcements accounting for only 9%.
There are significant differences among companies, with Salesforce employees expecting the highest at 81%, followed by Oracle at 80%, Uber at 77%, and PayPal at 75%; Zoho has the lowest at only 9%, and Freshworks at 44%.
The survey reflects employee expectations rather than confirmed plans, challenging the common perception that AI/ML roles are safer.
At the market level, rising layoff expectations are prompting tech talent to shift towards relatively stable positions and local companies, with funding focusing on companies capable of cost control. Beneficiaries are engineering and data teams with low-risk perceptions, while AI applications and sales functions face pressure due to high expectations.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Blind has previously released multiple anonymous workplace surveys, and this time it focuses on AI roles in India, continuing its tracking of layoff sentiment in the tech industry, directly challenging the narrative that "working in AI is safer."
In terms of capital flow, companies are controlling costs through hiring freezes and budget cuts while expanding investments in AI, shifting funding from human resources during expansion to efficiency tools and core engineering, leading to an increased perception of risk in AI/ML roles.
Similar cases can be seen in the global tech layoff wave from 2022-2023, where AI-related positions were also affected. Currently, India is in a phase of accelerating AI implementation while optimizing costs.
Essentially, this is a restructuring of roles under technological replacement: as AI tools enhance efficiency, related development roles face streamlining, and growth dividends concentrate on more fundamental engineering and data capabilities.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Jobs in AI are not safer than jobs being replaced by AI.
- Hiring freezes are the earliest signal of layoff expectations.
- Engineering capabilities are more resilient than AI labels against cycles.