Global companies are hiring more talent from India, but the biggest rewards still lie elsewhere

The geography of work is being rewritten. Corporations that once expanded into foreign markets by building factories are now expanding their reach through contracts. Talent, not capital, has become the most fiercely contested global resource.

Amid this transformation, India is emerging as one of the most important nodes in the cross-border hiring economy.

A new analysis by the global payroll and workforce management platform Deel suggests that the country is no longer merely a peripheral outsourcing hub. Instead, it is becoming a structural pillar of global talent supply. Yet behind the impressive growth numbers lies a critical question: Is India capturing the real economic value of this transformation, or simply supplying its labour to power it?

India’s rising weight in global hiring

The State of Global Hiring Report 2025 by Deel, built on more than one million worker contracts across 37,000 companies in over 150 countries, captures a labour market undergoing profound change.

India now ranks as the third-largest cross-border talent base globally on the platform. The country also sits among the top four residential destinations for Employees of Record (EOR), a hiring structure that allows companies to employ workers abroad without establishing a local entity.

Demand for Indian professionals is accelerating across major economies. Hiring in India has grown 24.1% from the United States, 63.7% from the United Kingdom, and 61.5% from Australia year over year.

The roles being filled reflect the country’s long-standing technology strengths. Software developers, software testers, and user interface specialists remain the most sought-after professionals.

Yet this surge raises a deeper structural question. Does India’s growing share of cross-border employment signal technological leadership, or does it still reflect the global economy’s reliance on a large, relatively affordable pool of skilled labour?

A new profession emerges: AI trainers

Artificial intelligence is widely discussed as a force that could replace jobs. The data suggests something more complicated: it is also creating entirely new ones.

One of the fastest-rising professions globally is that of AI trainers, workers who help machine learning systems improve by annotating data, verifying outputs, and providing expert-level feedback.

More than 70,000 workers now train AI systems globally across over 600 organisations. Hiring for general AI trainer roles grew 283% cross-border in 2025, making it the fastest-growing job category on the platform.

India has quickly become a key contributor to this emerging workforce. The country accounts for 7.2% of the world’s AI trainers, second only to the United States. The geographic spread of this talent is notable. Cities such as Delhi appear among the leading global hubs for AI trainers, even ahead of Bengaluru, the city traditionally regarded as India’s technology capital.

Yet the compensation gap tells another story. Globally, AI trainer pay is sharply divided: around 30% earn $15–$20 per hour, while nearly 20% earn $50–$75, and a small elite earns more than $100 per hour for specialised expertise, according to the Deel’s report.

The median pay for AI trainers in India stands at $12 per hour, far below earnings in advanced economies.

This disparity highlights a familiar pattern in global technology ecosystems: India contributes massive scale and operational capacity, while the highest-value expertise and research remain concentrated elsewhere.

Startups are hiring globally, but not to cut costs

Another finding in the report challenges one of the oldest assumptions about globalisation. Cross-border hiring is often associated with outsourcing, companies shifting jobs to lower-cost regions. But the behaviour of top-funded startups suggests a different motivation.

Among nearly 100 startups founded between 2020 and 2025 that raised more than $100 million, most international hiring occurs in high-income countries rather than low-cost markets. The United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, and Spain dominate hiring destinations.

Software developers account for 28% of these cross-border hires, followed by technology sales professionals, business developers, and AI engineers.

The message is clear: International hiring is increasingly about accessing scarce expertise, not simply reducing costs.

For India, this creates a paradox. The country is central to global technology work, but unless deeper specialisation grows domestically, the most lucrative positions may continue to cluster in richer economies.

The urban pull returns

Another shift emerging from the data is the slow return of workers to cities. During the pandemic, remote professionals scattered away from major urban centres. But since 2022, the average distance between remote employees and large metropolitan areas has steadily declined.

Workers are once again moving closer to major economic hubs such as New York, London, and Paris.

This trend reflects a reality that digital technology has not erased: cities remain powerful ecosystems for collaboration, mentorship, and innovation.

A similar pattern could shape India’s own technology landscape. As global demand for talent intensifies, metropolitan hubs such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad may strengthen their role as focal points of the country’s digital economy.

Pay growth is widening the global gap

Compensation patterns across the global labour market are also shifting. In 2025, the fastest salary growth occurred at the top of organisational hierarchies. Project managers in the United States recorded 24.5% pay growth, while chief operating officers saw increases of 21.6%.

Emerging markets experienced even sharper changes. Chief operating officers in Latin America saw nearly 100% compensation growth, while financial analysts recorded increases approaching 195%.

The data suggests a labour market where leadership and specialised expertise command increasingly large premiums, while routine roles remain widely distributed across global talent pools.

Workers are hedging against unstable currencies

Another phenomenon emerging from cross-border work is what analysts describe as “currency hopping.”

Contractors in economies with volatile currencies are increasingly choosing to be paid in US dollars or stablecoins instead of local currencies.

For many workers, the decision reflects a practical strategy to preserve purchasing power rather than a speculative bet on cryptocurrency.

The question facing India

Taken together, the trends captured in the report reveal a global labour market undergoing structural transformation.

Borders matter less. Digital contracts move work across continents in seconds. Talent clusters around knowledge, not geography.

India is clearly positioned at the centre of this transformation. Its workforce is powering global software development, feeding the growth of artificial intelligence, and increasingly participating in remote-first employment models. But participation alone does not guarantee leadership.

The real challenge ahead is whether India can move beyond being the world’s largest reservoir of technology talent and become a centre for high-value innovation, research, and specialised expertise.

The new global labour market rewards skill, not location. The question now is whether India will shape that future, or simply help build it for others.Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!