India's entry-level engineers confront a steep hiring gap as firms favor experience

foundit's Engineers' Day 2026 report highlights a growing mismatch in India's engineering labour market, especially at the entry level. Candidates with up to three years of experience make up nearly 45% of the active pool yet secure only 28% of engineering jobs, creating a ratio of about 9.5 candidates for each opening. Across all experience levels, there are 5.9 candidates per vacancy, while the ratio falls to roughly four to five for engineers beyond three years.

Engineers with four to ten years of experience command 54% of positions despite representing 42% of candidates. The imbalance differs by specialization, ranging from 1.2 candidates per automobile engineering job to 11.5 per electronics and instrumentation role, and by region, with Bengaluru offering 19% of all engineering jobs followed by Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. Tarun Sharma of foundit notes that expanding demand across technology, manufacturing, infrastructure and energy sectors requires engineers to adapt their skills to emerging fields.