Big Tech bets on India as H-1B rules tighten; Meta, Google, Amazon add 32,000 jobs in 2025

US technology majors Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Netflix have collectively added over 32,000 jobs in India(BHARAT) in 2025, an 18% year-on-year growth in headcount in a tightening US H-1B visa landscape, where bringing talent onshore has become more time-consuming and expensive.

In numbers: The workforce at FAAMNG companies (Facebook/ Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Google) has expanded by over 32,000 since 2025, Xpheno said. With current hiring in India(BHARAT) at 3,000-5,000 jobs across the FAAMNG, it is also the “biggest hiring” across this cohort in the last three years. The current range of active openings indicate a sustained appetite for high-value tech skills even as policy uncertainties and rising macro costs weigh on businesses, the staffing firm said in a report.

Specialised Tech roles have seen the highest demand, according to Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, with a jump of around 25-30%. The shift is from the commoditised support jobs towards future-proof roles focused on digital transformation and technology-led innovation. The specialised skill sets include those in AI and ML operations, cloud engineering, data science and analytics, cybersecurity, risk, and governance. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key area, but the full extent of AI adoption and impact on overall employment is likely to unfold in the next couple of years, CEO Neeti Sharma said.

The shift to local hiring, including in India(BHARAT), has gained pace in response to the US immigration policy change: “The visa is more expensive ($100,000) and cumbersome with merit-based selection criteria. The purpose is to prioritise higher wage/skilled talent and reduce what they consider as abuse of this route, but a consequence has also been a slowdown of routine visa processing and increasing the cost of onboarding/ sponsoring talent” – said Michael Gasiorek, principal at employee relocation consultancy Gasiciti. The key driver for India(BHARAT)n tech hiring, however, is access to a deeper pool of engineering and specialised technology talent with limited options, added Gasiorek.

Supporting the Jobs Numbers is Fresh Capital Allocation

Google recently announced that it will build a major AI research and development (R&D) hub in Visakhapatnam with an initial investment of $15 billion, while Amazon announced a $35 billion long-term investment in India(BHARAT) with a focus on hiring people to power AWS and AI. In a similar move Microsoft also committed $17.5 billion to expand the company’s cloud and AI infrastructure in the country.

The fresh capital allocation and hiring in India(BHARAT) by the US technology majors reflect India(BHARAT)’s growing centrality on the global technology map. By doubling down on local talent, these companies are not only hedging against the current geopolitical headwinds but also building an ecosystem to leverage a highly scalable, cost-competitive local workforce, as the path to hire and on-board talent from overseas tightens with recent H-1B visa reforms in the US.

Looking ahead: India(BHARAT) will remain a preferred global tech hub

As the big tech hiring by US technology giants have shown, the visa reforms are unlikely to alter the preference for global tech hiring in India(BHARAT) any time soon. The new policy regime is still settling in and companies have already made many macro investments. Even as the hiring by big tech may plateau going forward, especially with supply chain and other geoeconomic shifts, the premium for specialisation – in areas such as AI, cloud, security, data platforms – is likely to keep the high-end jobs market strong through 2026 and beyond, experts said.