Top IT firms shed 25K jobs amid cost cuts

livemint.com:

MUMBAI, NEW DELHI : India’s top three IT companies have seen more than 25,000 net employee exits in the six months to September, driven by cost-saving measures, unfilled job openings, and hiring curbs. Companies and recruiters expect the labour market to remain weak for at least a couple of quarters, pending a rebound in deal flow and immediate needs that would require renewed recruitment. “Cost optimization is taking place either through vacancies that remain unfilled or some amount of natural attrition.

Companies are also shrinking their workforce in the guise of poor performance," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive of recruitment company CIEL HR Services. On Wednesday, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) reported a massive drop of over 6,000 employees in the September quarter. TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad said “similar numbers on headcount reduction" are expected in the future.

Workforce size of the two other IT firms considered for analysis—HCL Technologies Ltd and Infosys Ltd—started dropping even before the September quarter. While HCLTech’s employee base has dropped since the June quarter, Infosys’s workforce has shrunk by more than 18,000 in the nine months to 30 September. Infosys and HCL Technologies reduced their employee strength by 7,530 and 2,299, respectively, in the September quarter.

Wipro, which will report its earnings on 18 October, also reduced its employee strength by over 7,000 in the June quarter. “The headcount drop will continue for one more quarter, and we will see it increase from the fourth quarter of this fiscal. The exits are largely taking place in the two-four years of work experience category, and they are getting hired in the global capability centres," said