Bengaluru, February 25 (NationPress) The number of job vacancies in India's semiconductor design Global Capability Centres (GCCs) saw a notable increase during the October to December quarter of last year (Q4 2025). Notably, November and December marked the most significant month-on-month rise in job openings throughout the year, even as hiring volumes remained below the levels observed in early 2025, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The 'India’s Semiconductor Design GCC Talent Ecosystem-CY 2025' report by Careernet indicates that job openings across the top 50 semiconductor design GCCs had been on a steady decline from January to October 2025.

However, Q4 2025 demonstrated a resurgence of confidence in the sector, the report highlighted.

Large GCCs (with over 5,000 employees) experienced the most pronounced fluctuations in monthly hiring, while smaller GCCs exhibited greater volatility, responding more swiftly to market dynamics.

Mid-sized GCCs (with 1,000 to 5,000 employees) maintained the most stability, showing relatively controlled variations throughout the year.

Significantly, Q4 witnessed at least one month of positive hiring trends across GCCs of all sizes, suggesting selective growth rather than a widespread recovery, as noted in the report.

“The hiring adjustment observed in Q4 of CY2025 indicates a structural transformation within India’s semiconductor design landscape. This shift reflects a combination of global demand normalization, enhanced cost management, and more judicious capital allocation within semiconductor design GCCs,” stated Neelabh Shukla, Chief Business Officer at Careernet.

As the industry matures, companies are transitioning from growth-driven hiring to prioritizing roles that directly contribute to design outcomes and long-term intellectual property (IP) value.

This transformation is resulting in a decrease in quantity but an increase in specialization of job openings, focusing on core VLSI (Very-Large-Scale Integration) and advanced design skills rather than volume-led expansion, Shukla added.

Furthermore, ongoing governmental support for research and development, domestic IP generation, and industry-led skill enhancement is facilitating this shift, encouraging GCCs to align their talent strategies with long-term value creation rather than short-term growth.

This trend signifies India’s transition from being a cost-effective design center to a capability-driven semiconductor leader.

The analysis reveals that core VLSI roles constituted 44 percent of all job openings in Q4 2025.

Within the VLSI sector (with an active talent pool of 260,000 professionals), Verification (28 percent) and Front-end Design (26 percent) led demand, followed by Physical Verification (18 percent) and Physical Design (14 percent).

System and Application Software roles accounted for 40 percent of open positions, showcasing the increasing integration of hardware design and software optimization, as per the report.

Additionally, the report examines the distribution of experience levels among the active talent pool in core VLSI skills, revealing a distinct divergence between high-demand core roles and specialized positions.