No let-up in hiring by top IT majors despite macro weakness

There seems to be no slowdown in the hiring momentum of large IT players and their ranks continue to swell in spite of the global macroeconomic weakness in Western markets.

The top three listed Indian IT companies now employ an aggregate 4.9 lakh professionals, over 18 per cent higher than the year ago count.

Top Three

The combined headcount for these top companies – TCS, Infosys and Wipro – for quarter ended September is 5.6 per cent higher than the preceding three months.

“We have seen a positive trend in hiring by large IT companies,” said Ms Annamma Renu, Manager (IT Practice) of Elixir, a recruitment consulting firm.

In fact, Tata Consultancy Services' gross hiring during the recently-concluded quarter was the highest by the company since its inception. It added 20,349 new hands. TCS has outlined a hiring target of 60,000 (at a gross level) for the full fiscal. If the company's gross hiring for the first half of fiscal is added up, it would be well past the halfway mark.

Infosys has added 15,352 professionals (gross basis), against 9922 during preceding June quarter and 14,264 in the year-ago period. The net addition (after taking into account people who have left the company) at 8,262 was up 200 per cent over the previous June quarter and 8 per cent over the year ago period.

For Wipro's IT business, the net addition at 5,240 professionals was nearly 28 per cent more than the preceding June quarter and 76 per cent higher compared to the same period previous year. This marks the strongest pace of hiring seen over the last few quarters.

“The hiring numbers are not reflecting the macro headwinds. Companies have not cutback on the hiring target that they had outlined at the start of the fiscal,” said Mr Sanjeev Hota, analyst at Sharekhan.

But the campus hiring targets could get impacted if the macro-economic environment deteriorated any further, he added.

That said, some HR experts note that the lateral hiring by the industry has come under pressure over the last few quarters. “Bulk hiring of laterals happen when companies sign up large contracts. But over the last few quarters large contracts have come down,” said Mr Amitabh Das, Founder & CEO of Vati Consulting, a recruitment and staffing firm.

Also, he said, clients appear to be releasing IT budgets in smaller tranches, given the overall uncertainty in the business environment. “That is also leading to more `just-in-time' hiring. Besides, given the pressure on operating margins, companies' ability to hire laterals at a higher cost also tends to reduce,” Mr Das said.

Euro zone

Europe's recent efforts to contain the two-year-old euro zone crisis could ease some bit of pressure for the Indian IT industry although the actual impact on client behaviour would be clear only in one or two quarters, he added. The $76-billion industry derives most of its revenue from providing services to overseas clients, including in the troubled markets of Europe and the US.

moumita@thehindu.co.in

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