India's top four IT companies added only 1940 employees in Q3: Report

This comes amid global macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical concerns.

According to a new report, the top four IT companies of India - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Wipro - together added only 1,940 employees in Q3FY23. This is the lowest in the past 11 quarters. Notably, they added nearly 80,000 employees in Q4FY22 and nearly 47,000 employees on average in the previous ninequarters.

This comes amid global macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical concerns.

Also, these companies had a net profit of 1.7 lakhs per employee during October-December 2022, up 8.6 percent from Rs 1.57 lakh in Q2FY23 and 16.3 percent from a record low of Rs 1.47 lakh in Q1FY23. Earnings per employee in the third quarter were down 0.9 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. In FY21, they had a net profit of Rs 1.95 lakh per employee during the October-December quarter.

More information from the report

Tata Consultancy Services' overall headcount dropped by 2,197 employees at the end of 2022. On the other hand, Wipro had a decrease of 435 in the same period in Bengaluru.

According to Sachin Alug, CEO of the talent solutions company NLB Services, the situation will deepen in the coming months driven by “geopolitical scenarios, impending recession, and cost conservation by companies".

Kamal Karanth's statement

Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno (a specialist staffing company), said in a brief statement: "The rise and (now) drop in the net headcount of the top four (IT firms) over the last 11 quarters, is reflective of the macro technology trends at play."

Dhananjay Sinha's statement

Dhananjay Sinha, director and head of research & strategy Systematix Institutional Equity, said in a statement: "Cost pressure on the IT industry would continue to moderate in CY23, boosting companies’ margin and profit per employee. A spate of firing by tech majors has helped moderate salary and wages in the industry and this has helped Indian IT firms, many of which hire from the same pool."