Semiconductor Design Jobs Decline in India: Geopolitical Uncertainty Impact

Mumbai, May 25 (PTI) India's semiconductor design Global Capability Centers (GCCs) witnessed a 15 per cent decline in job openings in 2024-25, mainly due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and global supply chain disruptions, according to a report.

The report by talent solutions provider Careernet revealed open positions peaked in May 2024 with 3,760 jobs before gradually tapering off to 3,040 by January 2025 and closing the year at 3,181 in March 2025.

This reflects a measured slowdown of nearly 15 per cent year-on-year decline in active roles across India's top 50 semiconductor design GCCs.

Despite this moderation, the overall demand for niche skills in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), embedded systems, and RF/analogue design remained resilient, with mid-sized GCCs demonstrating greater hiring agility, it added.

Semiconductor design is a niche area with inherently less headcount compared to other tech functions, so fluctuations in hiring sentiment - especially from two or three major industry players - can significantly influence the overall semiconductor design job market.

"The semiconductor design GCCs in India have experienced a relatively sluggish trend in new job openings over the past few quarters. This cautious hiring environment is largely driven by ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, global supply chain disruptions, and volatility in valuations within key technology areas, such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing," Careernet CBO Neelabh Shukla told PTI.

The report is based on an analysis of job openings in India's top 50 semiconductor design GCCs in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that the intellectual property (IP) design sub-sector focusing on developing specialised chip components and reusable design blocks continued to demonstrate strong demand, with a significant number of open positions.

"Despite these short-term fluctuations, we remain optimistic about the medium to long-term outlook. Increased global focus on semiconductor supply chain resilience, combined with strategic Indian government initiatives to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and design capabilities in India, is expected to catalyse a more robust growth trajectory for semiconductor design jobs in the coming years," Shukla added.