There may be a reduction in hiring of up to 90 thousand in Reliance Industries in the financial year 2026.
Reliance Industries Limited is not only the country’s largest company but also one of the largest employers in India. The special thing is that in the financial year 2026 (FY26), the company may have reduced its new hiring by up to 90,000 as compared to last year. This huge decline in hiring has come at a time when large groups are focusing more on upskilling existing employees in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and redesigning roles in their existing talent pool, rather than increasing their workforce. This decline in hiring is indicative of a worrying trend, at a time when the advent of AI, global war, supply chain crisis and a tough economy have put many hiring plans in jeopardy.
The Mukesh Ambani-led group said in its FY 2026 annual report published on its website last week that as of March 31, 2026, the group’s total employee strength was 4.19 lakh+, including 1 lakh+ new hires, and hiring was done specifically in AI, data science, automation and digital transformation. When compared with the report of the last financial year, this decline is clearly visible. The last annual report said that during FY 2025, Reliance onboarded more than 1.9 lakh new employees. Although the latest report does not mention the exact number of employees hired beyond “1 lakh+”, the shortfall could be closer to 90,000. The report for fiscal year 2024 had revealed that the company had hired 171,116 employees at that time.
How many employees are lacking in which unit?
According to the report, the number of employees in Jio Platforms Limited, which includes digital services and telecom business, was 74,822 at the end of FY 2026, which is about 21 percent less than 94,523 a year ago. According to a company official, one reason for the decline in employee numbers is a new career option in Reliance Jio’s home business, where employees in smaller markets can become ‘micro entrepreneurs’ instead of becoming full-time employees. A micro entrepreneur installs and maintains home business products in a particular city area and gets paid per installation.
There were 10,295 employees in the media and entertainment business, which is a decline of 8 percent compared to 11,186 employees in FY 2025. The oil-to-chemicals industry, one of its oldest businesses, employed 28,051 people in FY2026, compared to 29,985 in FY2025—a decline of more than 6 percent. However, the number of employees in retail business saw an increase of 17 percent. At the end of March 2026, this number was 2,90,293, which was 2,47,782 in FY 2025.
What does the understanding of recruiters say?
Recruiters also highlight other reasons. Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and chief executive of recruitment firm CIEL HR Services Limited, said that there could be two possible reasons for the decline in new recruitments—redeployment due to AI, and the poor condition of the job market, due to which employees are not able to leave the job of their own free will. He further said that this shortfall of 90,000 is “quite huge”.
However, the total number of employees in Reliance is continuously increasing. The group, which is preparing to list its telecom and digital services company Jio Platforms, has increased its employee count from 347,362 in FY 2024 to 419,911 by the end of FY 2026. Recruitment industry experts say that the decrease in attrition rate of employees can also be a reason for this. Reliance has not disclosed the number of employees laid off voluntarily or by the company.
A big trend?
Recruiters estimate that the impact of reduction in hiring may be seen on other business houses as well. Mishra said that due to global uncertainties and the use of AI, we may see other large groups also being slow in hiring new talent. Major changes are taking place in corporate structures according to new needs. Kamal Karanth, co-founder of recruitment firm Xpheno Private Limited, said in a Mint report that traditional pyramid structures are no longer as effective. The manager-to-employee ratio is changing from 6-8 employees per manager to 10-12 employees per manager.
Employers have become alert
He estimates that in the next 12 months, hiring demand may decline by about 10 percent. Karanth further said that with this, AI can replace some everyday and routine tasks. Recruitment firms have been warning for some time that companies are becoming more cautious about replacing employees who leave, and instead focusing on doing more with fewer people. Karanth said that the customer-facing junior level is no longer growing. Some big business houses, which are losing their talent to e-commerce and internet firms, are no longer replacing middle level employees with new employees as fast as before.
Review happens from time to time
RIL’s latest annual report has also highlighted the risks related to talent management. The report said that as businesses grow rapidly, the need for skilled and future-ready talent becomes critical. The rapid growth of store networks, digital channels, new energy and supply chain functions may put pressure on leadership capabilities, frontline staffing and core capabilities.
The large group said its management periodically reviews attrition trends, productivity data and the readiness of the talent pipeline to ensure that they are in line with growth targets. Its expenditure on total employee benefits increased from Rs 28,559 crore in FY 2025 to Rs 30,318 crore in FY 2026.
Top-level trend
Suresh Raina, partner and member of the global industrial practice at Heidrick & Struggles India (an executive search firm), said in a Mint report that CXO-level hiring has not been impacted much compared to middle-management hiring. However, the level of direct reporting to the C-suite is likely to be significantly impacted. According to Raina, the adoption of AI is forcing leaders to rethink their organizational and operating models.
AI is taking over tasks previously handled by manager-led teams, making many functions and operating units more agile. Due to this increased productivity, roles at the N-2 level (two levels below the top level) and below are likely to be rapidly redefined and changed.
He said that organizations that effectively adopt AI across their entire enterprise will reap benefits in the form of greater productivity, speed, cost efficiency and certainly better decision-making capabilities. The partner of the search firm said that the challenge before the leaders is not just to reduce the number of employees, but recognizing this critical juncture, to redefine the roles of the teams and reallocate resources.
