Indian IT Remains Cautious with Freshers and Hikes This Year

It is no secret that Indian IT’s relationship with its employees is not really straightforward. Sometimes, it’s delayed salary hikes, and other times, it’s offers that have been rescinded for fresh graduates. The mood across India’s top IT firms—TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra—is one of caution, as gauged from their Q4 FY25 earnings calls. 

With over 1.5 million employees between them, these companies are treading carefully on salary hikes and hiring. For employees, this likely translates into smaller pay hikes—or delays altogether—in the current fiscal year.

Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital, told AIM that it is a wait-and-watch time for all IT services companies. “Global uncertainties are still not behind us, and also the tariff discussion, which no one has a view on as of now,” she said.

That seems to be true. TCS typically hands out raises between April and July. However, this year, the company has deferred decisions on increments, citing “macroeconomic uncertainty”, Milind Lakkad, chief HR officer, indicated during a post-earnings call. 

Wipro mirrored this approach, planning to revisit pay hikes closer to September. “We are still very far from that time, and in this uncertain environment, we will decide closer to the date,” said Saurabh Govil, Wipro’s chief HR officer.

HCLTech remains an outlier, sticking to its traditional October cycle for salary hikes, maintaining last year’s schedule. Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra, like last year, pushed back its salary revisions but eventually rolled them out in the January-March 2025 quarter.

In 2024, TCS was the earliest mover, handing out hikes between 4.5–7% during April–June, while Wipro followed with 4–8% raises starting in September. 

Profitability remains the driving force behind the caution. Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra all posted improved operating margins in FY25. 

In terms of revenue, TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra reported $30.18 billion, $19.28 billion, $13.84 billion, $10.51 billion, and $6.26 billion, respectively.

Hiring Takes a Hit

Companies are walking on eggshells when it comes to hiring. Only Infosys, which aims to recruit 20,000 freshers in FY26, has put out a concrete number. TCS indicated it could match or exceed the 42,000 campus hires it made in FY25. HCLTech plans to ramp up fresher hiring from last year’s 7,829, but prefers to plan “quarter-on-quarter” rather than setting annual goals.

“We’re going to make our plans on a quarter-on-quarter basis. It’s a lot more prudent in the current climate,” said Ramachandran Sundararajan, CHRO at HCLTech, during the earnings call. The target is to hire at least 2,000 freshers every quarter.

Wipro, too, exercised caution. “We have geared ourselves for regular campus hiring, but we are mindful not to onboard more people than we can deploy,” warned Govil during Wipro’s 16 April earnings conference. Wipro brought in around 10,000 freshers in FY25.

Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra opted not to commit to a hiring number, highlighting that demand visibility remains questionable. The company recruited 6,100 campus hires last fiscal year. 

Interestingly, despite the headwinds, four of the five majors—TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra—still managed to expand their workforce, adding between 722 and 6,433 employees each. HCLTech, however, trimmed its headcount by 4,061 in the last fiscal year.

Any Impact of Generative AI?

Since Indian IT has claimed to be making significant progress in generative AI over the last year, it appears that this development has impacted the hiring cycle for companies. But TCS denies it. “We don’t see any impact on hiring because of AI,” Kakkad said when asked about its impact on upskilling employees.

Meanwhile, the attrition for each firm has increased this quarter, with reasons like competition from GCCs and other clients. Cognizant and Infosys have subtly acknowledged this competition. 

Cognizant recognised the threat from GCCs on talent retention and hiring. The 2024 annual report noted that Cognizant sees competition from clients’ in-house technology resources, such as GCCs, which could provide a lower-cost alternative to its services.

During the company’s Q4 FY25 results last week, Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka was asked about the increased attrition rate and if the firm is losing middle management because of GCCs. While he didn’t completely deny it, Sanghrajka pointed out that although the overall headcount has increased, attrition could be high because of increased competition, including from GCCs.

All this comes after questions were raised about the shrinking bench size of Indian IT firms. According to a recent report by Moneycontrol, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, and HCLTech have been reducing their bench sizes and duration for the past 18 months to address slowing revenue growth.

The average bench time has dropped from 45-60 days during FY20-21 to just 35-45 days currently. This trend is expected to worsen in 2026. 

Indian IT has pushed utilisation rates higher, from historical norms of 70-75% to current targets of 80-85%. This higher threshold creates a more demanding environment for professionals, with a reduced tolerance for unbilled time. 

For context, Infosys reported utilisation of 80.7% for the full FY24 and 82% for the fourth quarter, which they indicated was still below their comfort level of 84-85%.

It is unclear how Indian IT is expected to hire freshers or give more hikes this year.