Net hiring was down by 435 compared to 605 added last quarter amidst a tightening hiring ecosystem. The company onboarded 3,000 freshers so far in Q3 against its FY23 fresher target of 30,000 candidates. The IT major expects to add 5,000 freshers in Q4, taking its total fresher intake to 22,000 for the fiscal year.
“A lot of things have happened since we announced the fresher target,” said Saurabh Govil, CHRO, Wipro during the post-earnings briefing.
Tata Consultancy Services’ reported a fall of 2,197 employees on a sequential basis as the environment of the IT sector is facing macroeconomic challenges. TCS’ headcount stood at 613,974 for the quarter ended December. Its attrition also fell 20 bps sequentially to 21.3% for the quarter ended December.
Similarly, voluntary attrition for Infosys fell to 24.3% in Q3 compared with 27.1% last quarter. Net hiring stood at 1,627 compared with 10,032 in the fiscal second quarter, amidst a tightening hiring ecosystem factoring in the impact of a slowdown in decision making.
HCLTech’s headcount for the second quarter stood at 222,270 with a net hiring of 2,945 over the previous quarter while attrition fell to 21.7%.
Discover the stories of your interest
ET had reported last week that hiring mandates from technology companies are down by as much as 90% over last year as the $220 billion IT industry prepares for an uncertain economic scenario. While talent demand for specific skills remains high, recruiters have seen a downturn in demand over the second half of 2022 as markets across the US and Europe showed increasing signs of inflation and recessionary concerns. Over the past two quarters, Indian startups and global tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Stripe have resorted to mass layoffs to manage costs in an increasingly inflationary environment. This has, in turn, stemmed the massive churn in the job market along with cooling off attrition and unprecedented salary hikes.
For TCS, the voluntary attrition for the third quarter stood at 21.3% compared to 21.5% last quarter as the job market cooled off with employees’ switching less frequently.
Out of the planned 45,000-47,000 freshers for Q3, the company had already onboarded 42,000 during the year so far. “We may add a few thousands here and there going forward,” CHRO Milind Lakkad said on the fresher hiring outlook for the rest of FY23.
The company also added that fees to external consultants have gone down during the quarter.. The dip in hiring corresponds to the rapid growth in inflationary concerns across its top market – the US and the European energy crisis complicated by the Ukraine war.
Executives of IT firms told ET that while they will continue to hire from the campuses, lateral hiring will remain muted and just in time for the following quarters.
According to industry experts, instead of the pre-emptive hiring seen between 2021 and first half of 2022, IT companies are more likely to bid for client contracts first and then staff necessary talent requirements later during 2023.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
