NEW DELHI, India — India has emerged as the world’s third-largest cross-border hiring pool and accounts for about 7.2 percent of global AI trainers, highlighting the country’s growing importance in the international digital workforce, according to a new report released Thursday.
The analysis by global payroll and hiring platform Deel found that India has become a key contributor to the cross-border talent market, ranking as the second-largest overall talent base after the United States and ahead of countries such as the Philippines and Canada.
The report also points to broader changes in the global labor market, including the rise of AI training as a new profession, increasing international recruitment by startups seeking specialized skills, and a gradual shift of remote workers back to major urban centers.
India also ranks among the top four residential locations for Employees of Record, or EOR — workers who are hired internationally but employed through local entities — behind Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain.
Demand for professionals based in India is also increasing across major international hiring corridors.
Inbound EOR hiring into India rose 24 percent from the United States, about 64 percent from the United Kingdom and 61.5 percent from Australia compared with the previous year. Many of these roles are concentrated in software development, testing and user interface design.
The report also highlighted the rapid growth of AI training as a profession as companies race to develop and refine artificial intelligence models.
“Over 70,000 workers now train AI systems across more than 600 organizations, performing tasks from basic data annotation to expert-level feedback in medicine, economics, and translation,” the report said.
Pay for AI training work varies widely depending on the complexity and expertise required. Globally, many AI trainers earn between $15 and $20 per hour for basic annotation tasks, while subject-matter experts providing advanced feedback can earn $50 to $100 per hour or more.
In India, the median pay for AI trainers stands at about $12 per hour, reflecting differences in global labor markets and compensation structures. (Source: IANS)
