April has ringed in earnings season for major Indian IT giants Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech. Majority of these companies have reported unsatisfactory results, highlighting the difficulties faced by the industry amidst tough macroeconomic conditions. One of the consequences of these headwinds is the drop in hiring numbers in FY 2022-23 as compared to FY 2021-22, across the majority of IT companies.
TCS hired 22,600 in FY23. The company added over 1,03,000 people in FY 22. Hiring in FY23 witnessed a steep decline of 78 per cent as compared to the past financial year at TCS.
Similar trends were observed at Infosys. The company added 29,219 people in FY23, whereas it added 54,396 people in FY22. The hiring went down over 46 per cent as compared to the past financial year.
Hiring went down over 57 per cent at HCLTech. The IT company hired a total of 17,067 employees during FY 23, a steep drop as compared to the 39,900 people recruited in the previous fiscal year, FY 22.
Management and industry insiders say the hiring in FY 24 is also expected to remain muted.
Ram Sundarajan, the Chief People Officer at HCLTech, said at the Q4 earnings call that the hiring in the next few quarters will remain moderated.
“The FY 24 hiring plan will be moderated on the back of the net additions that we have done in the last two quarters,” the CPO said.
Nilanjan Roy, Chief Financial Officer of Infosys, echoed similar views. He said, “We have a leeway for the next few quarters in terms of the availability of freshers. We have no specific number for FY24.”
A report by NLB services, a talent solutions company, noted that hiring in FY 24 will fall 20-25 per cent.
“The IT sector may continue to witness soft demand for projects due to the ongoing macro-economic scenario and this is expected to further have an impact on the overall headcount by 20-25 per cent in H1FY24,” the report stressed.
The drop in demand for IT services has not just led to a fall in hiring but also to the delay in the onboarding of freshers and an increase in bench size at the majority of Indian IT companies.
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