A structural transition is underway in India’s telecom sector, which is moving away from a manpower-intensive model to a leaner, automated and tech-driven framework as operators replace employees with AI, cloud-based infrastructure and intelligent networks.
Although hiring trends among the three largest telecom operators vary, the shift in job profiles is evident as the common thread.
Market leader Reliance Jio (Jio), its closest rival Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea together added a shade more than 30,000 employees over the past five years. But the hiring trends were not uniform. While Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea upped their workforce strength over this period, hiring at Reliance Jio, which has the largest customer base, took a tumble.
Telecom recruiters noted that jobs in the sector may be plateauing as demand for routine network operations, field engineers and project managers reduces. The focus is shifting to tariffs to boost revenue and towards hiring artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based infrastructure specialists.
“There is limited headroom for manpower growth as the services portfolio has changed and there is more work done remotely. The telcos need tech-enabled people, and the impact is felt by the junior and middle order the most,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and chief executive officer of Ciel HR.
According to a Mint analysis, the total workforce of the trio of operators increased by 19% to 192,673 in FY26 from 161,652 in FY22. This was largely driven by two factors: the surge in connectivity demand by India Inc during the pandemic and the intensive, field-heavy rollout of 5G infrastructure, which is drawing to a close.
Usually, during such network rollouts, telcos need supervisors for contractual work and once their tasks are completed, their contracts end, an executive at a leading telecom operator said.
“Hiring in India’s telecom sector has slowed down primarily due to the completion of aggressive 5G network rollouts,” said Vivek Mehta, a partner at recruitment firm ABC Consultants who tracks the telecom sector. “With the heavy lifting of nationwide 5G infrastructure deployment largely behind them, telecom companies have tightened budgets and slowed down massive field-level deployment hiring.”
Bharti Airtel’s workforce, including permanent and contract employees, increased by 47% to over 100,000 since FY22. Vodafone Idea, born out of the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, had an employee strength of 17,612, a 67% jump from FY22. Jio had just under 75,000 employees at the end of FY26, an over 10% drop since FY22.
Here is where the data throws in a surprise. Mukesh Ambani-led Jio, which is on its way to list Jio Platforms—its digital and telecom arm, posted a spurt in hiring from FY22 to FY23 and then a small dip of 5.5% in FY24 versus the earlier fiscal. The telco’s manpower grew again in FY25, but dropped by 21% in FY26.
According to a company executive, the headcount decline is on account of a new career option in the Reliance Jio home business, where people in smaller markets can become micro-entrepreneurs instead of full-time employees. The home business consists of connectivity packages that combine high-speed fibre, digital TV channels and OTT app subscriptions.
A micro-entrepreneur is compensated for overseeing the installation and maintenance of home business products in a specific city area.
“Every year, we are consistently creating an increasing number of high-paying direct and indirect employment. Our digital and retail businesses have also catalyzed lakhs of micro-entrepreneurship opportunities,” Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, said at the company’s 49th annual general meeting in June.
According to Rakesh Mehrotra, a telecom consultant, instead of direct hiring, the focus will continue to grow on third-party contracts, which come at a lower cost to operators. Human-facing roles such as those in sales will continue to see traction, he said.
Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea did not respond to Mint’s queries.