IT jobs are back on track. IT service providers led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro are hiring at high prices to meet the growing demand for talent that could run overseas projects for clients, who want to transform their businesses digitally. TCS plans to recruit more than 40,000 people from the campuses this year, while Infosys is likely to hire about 25,000 people from campuses. Wipro, which did not provide a hiring plan, said it would onboard more people than last year. “Growth itself has begun and on top of that, most of the growth volumes is happening in India, and as a result, there is a great need for talent,” Infosys chief operating officer Pravin Rao told analysts last week.
Analysts following the trend say thatthe top five companies including TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra will employ more than 110,000 people this year, from a net additional number of more than 90,000 jobs last year. “The new fiscal started with hiring due to higher appointments, new recruitment plans, investment requests, IT refunds, and refilling benchmarks to stabilize operating standards,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno’s professional staff agency. “The combined impact of these factors will affect employers’ performance by more than 20%.” With more than 120,000 sector-related jobs the total number of companies employed was 210,000 last year, adds Karanth. TCS reported a record low of 7.2% in the fourth quarter of the last financial year, with rising rates for Infosys and Wipro.
Both Bengaluru-based companies have confirmed that there will be an increase in attrition, and that they are taking steps to retain talent. “Attrition is likely to remain at this level for the next one or two quarters,” said Rao of Infosys. The near 15% attrition rate is at the highest level of the company, and is higher than the previous quarter. “With compensation, promotions and other programs we are confident that we will maintain this level … This year (FY21) we have added 21,000 employees from campuses around the world and we plan to add 25,000 from higher campuses this year,” Rao said.
Saurabh Govil, chief human resource officer at Wipro, said the company saw the ongoing pressure on recruitment and promised bonuses based on skills in areas such as cybersecurity, AI and field experts. “We see ongoing pressure. The idea is to touch on the most important talent for our clients. Leasing our site was 3,000 people this quarter and it will be much stronger,” said Govil. Companies such as DXC Technology, Mindtree and others are also looking to increase employment in the next few quarters of this financial year, to manage high levels of attrition. Nachiket Sukhtankar, India’s managing director of DXC Technology, said it has offered 7,000 people from campuses this year, up from 4,500 from last year.
Mindtree declined to share the exact number of hiring, but chief executive Debhashis Chatterjee said that the company employed 1,600 people in the last quarter – a combination of campus and other hiring. “I can see that in the next two quarters, we are just seeing that number increase as we move forward towards adding to the good mix of campus and backyard,” he said. The Mindtree’s attrition has declined slightly to 12.5%, and has been declining in the past few quarters.
