The Apna MSME Hiring Pulse 2026 report found that India's workforce is becoming more geographically dispersed and that demand for artificial intelligence skills rose by 164 per cent in FY26 within the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The report said that Indian MSMEs are altering hiring patterns as they expand, adopt digital tools and build a future-ready workforce. It added that hiring growth remained broad-based, driven by new businesses entering the recruitment ecosystem and existing employers scaling up workforce requirements. Nearly two-thirds of MSME job demand remained concentrated in Tier one city clusters (68 per cent in FY26), yet workforce participation is expanding beyond metropolitan markets. Tier two cities accounted for 30 per cent of all applicants in FY26, reflecting the growing contribution of non-metro talent to the formal workforce. The report noted that Tier three markets are emerging as a major opportunity, representing nearly 20 per cent of active users but only five per cent of job applications. That gap indicates strong interest in employment from smaller cities that has not yet fully converted into formal hiring. New hiring hubs such as Surat, Rajkot, Nagpur and Raipur are gaining traction alongside established centres including Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai and Delhi, demonstrating the widening geographic reach of MSME-led growth. As businesses expand, hiring priorities are shifting and the mix of roles being recruited has changed. Sales and business development accounted for 40 per cent of skills demanded by MSMEs in FY26, up from 36 per cent in the prior year, becoming the largest segment of demand. Overall hiring continued to focus on general, transferable skills needed for customer-facing and business roles across sectors. The most sought-after positions included telesales, accounting and taxation, field sales and customer support, reflecting sustained demand for frontline and operational talent. The findings suggest that MSMEs are increasingly investing in digital capabilities while broadening their geographic recruitment footprint. Continued scale-up of these businesses is expected to drive further demand for both specialised technology skills and versatile operational roles.