HCL Tech will keep hiring to meet 5.5% growth guidance, says CEO Vijayakumar

livemint.com:

Mint, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) C. Vijayakumar said HCL Technologies will continue its hiring momentum through the entire calendar year to maintain its revenue growth guidance. Growth is being fuelled by the company’s existing mega telecom deal with American telecom firm Verizon, a new focus on automotive technologies through its acquisition of Germany’s ASAP Group, and increasing recurring revenue from its software business.

HCL will also focus on Europe as a geography, where its revenue is expected to be bolstered by focusing on the automotive sector in the upcoming quarters. Edited excerpts: You need people to continue delivering 5.5% growth. We’re continuing to hire, and our net additions are positive.

We’ll see the hiring momentum continue into Q4 and beyond. Our services have also grown 3.1%, and all of this requires the right talent to execute. We’re also executing a very large deal through the previous quarter, and that will also add to the headcount numbers.

This includes freshers as well as mid- and senior-level hirings. Our fresher hiring momentum will continue, while lateral hiring will take place as required. We should see broad-based traction.

Financial services, telecom and tech will do well, while others should also see at least some growth in the last quarter of the year. The ramp-up of existing telecom deals will continue, and we’re already seeing some positive traction in tech. Our engineering research and development (ER&D) vertical has been growing in the past two quarters, and we expect it to grow this quarter as well.