Staffing firm TeamLease Digital predicts a 30% year-on-year decline in hiring for FY24. But the Indian IT sector was not always known for its gloomy hiring scene
During the year FY 2021-22, the combined employee hiring across major Indian IT companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech was over 2.43 lakh. This demand for employees was driven by an increased number of deals due to pandemic related digital transformation requirements
But the high did not continue. The hiring numbers went down over 66 per cent in FY 2022-23, with top four Indian IT companies hiring 82,649 employees in total
Fresher hiring is also witnessing a downward turn. In FY22, the top four companies in the Indian IT sector recruited 3.9 lakh new graduates. In FY23 this number scaled down to 2.8 lakh. And as per TeamLease’s report, is expected to be around 1.55 lakh for FY24
Apart from the slowdown in hiring, delay in onboarding of freshers has also become a major concern at some of India’s biggest IT companies. Major Indian IT companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, etc. have not given a joining date to thousands of freshers awaiting onboarding at the company
The management commentary at major Indian IT companies highlights their renewed focus on skilled mid-level talent. The TeamLease report also highlights that hiring for mid-level talent is expected to go up
Upskilling has also become an important theme across Indian IT companies, with Wipro's CHRO Saurabh Govil highlighting in the company's post earnings interaction that the company now prefers candidates who have upskilled themselves
With increased interest around Generative AI, all major IT players have started training their employees on AI. TCS has announced to train 25,000 associates, while Wipro plans on training 50,000 staff members and Tech Mahindra would train 10,000 employees
The hiring numbers across Indian IT players are showing a downward trend. The focus has shifted from entry level employees to mid-level executives and upskilling has become an important theme across major players