Delhi/Bengaluru, Nov. 17 -- The country's 1.3 million engineering college graduates are eyeing fewer jobs in IT-related roles at large companies, including homegrown software services firms, because of the rise of automation and uncertain market conditions.

According to at least five placement heads of the country's top universities, IT services companies, including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Infosys Ltd, and HCL Technologies Ltd, and the back-end tech centres of large multinational companies, are expected to hire fewer college students for the batch of 2026, as compared with last year.

For IT services companies, this would be a third successive year of lower hiring from campuses as they now shift their gaze to talent with specialis...