IT cos step up fresher hiring to meet rise in demand
Indian software services companies are hiring freshers in record numbers as they try to cope with the surge in demand for digital skills and rising employee turnover in the past two quarters.
Companies are preferring to hire freshers and train them, said Saran Balasundaram, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Han Digital, a talent consulting firm.
Pressure to improve profit margins is also forcing these companies to hire more freshers.
“Every IT-BPM services company wants to increase their margins. This is only possible if companies have established a pyramid workforce model,” said
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Balasundaram.
Staffing firm Teamlease believes freshers are at an advantage as they are more comfortable with technology. “Training freshers is a cost-effective solution for companies compared to laterals,” said Siva Prasad Nanduri, business head, IT staffing, Teamlease Digital.
The top four IT services companies are planning to hire about 120,000 freshers this fiscal.
India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), said it will hire 40,000 freshers in FY22. TCS, the largest employer of whitecollared workers in India, crossed the 500,000-employee mark in the June quarter.
Infosys Ltd has raised its target of fresher hiring to 35,000 for FY22, up from 26,000 it shared in the previous quarter, on the back of rising demand. “There will be some gaps in the short-term, but the supply chain will sort of adjust itself,” Nilanjan Roy, chief financial officer, Infosys, said in a post-earnings call.
Wipro Ltd will onboard 6,000 freshers in the September quarter and will roll out 30,000 offer letters to campus hires this fiscal. They are expected to join the company by FY23.
During the June quarter, Wipro made its highest-ever net addition of 12,000 employees.
Wipro believes fresher hiring has specific advantages. “In lateral hiring, the cost of replacement is very high, so it comes with a premium. We want to build a pyramid where we focus on people who are agile, can be trained faster, and at a lower cost. This also lets us build a culture in the organization where people join early and grow within the organization,” said Saurabh Govil, chief human resources officer, Wipro.
HCL Technologies Ltd plans to hire as many as 22,000 freshers this year, an increase of about 50% from the last fiscal.
This year, it plans to add about 6,000 freshers in the second quarter alone.
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