India’s top five IT services companies—Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra—reported job cuts of 2,587 employees in the third quarter of FY25 (Q3FY25), reflecting a seasonal slowdown typical for the industry.
This comes after a strong hiring boost in the previous quarter, suggesting a cautious recovery after the challenges of the past few years.
Hiring Trends in Q3FY25 and Job Cuts
Q3FY25 is traditionally a weaker period for India’s IT sector due to seasonality factors, including employee furloughs and reduced hiring.
While the quarter showed a decrease in the workforce across most major IT firms, it is important to note that Q2FY25 had been a strong quarter for recruitment, with a total of 15,033 new employees added.
This highlights the cyclical nature of hiring within the sector.
- TCS: TCS lost around 5,370 employees in Q3FY25, despite continuing to see strong deal momentum. The company had hired more in Q1 and Q2, expecting a faster revival, but anticipated a seasonally weak Q32.
- Infosys: Infosys saw robust recruitment of over 5,000 employees in Q3, bringing its total headcount to 323,000. The company plans to hire over 20,000 freshers in FY261.
- HCLTech: HCLTech added 2,134 employees in Q3, bringing its total workforce to 220,755.
- Wipro: Wipro shed 1,157 employees in Q3, attributing the drop to seasonal factors.
- Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra reported a sequential decline of about 3,785 employees in Q3, focusing on optimizing capacity under new management.
Nine-Month Recovery and Attrition Levels
On a nine-month (9MFY25) basis, these services exporters added 10,412 employees, marking a cautious revival after shedding over 57,608 employees during the same period last year.
This recovery is a sharp contrast to the same period in FY24, when over 57,600 employees were lost.
All five companies reported a sequential increase in their attrition levels on a last twelve-month (LTM) basis.
The reasons for attrition vary, including competitive job offers, evolving work preferences, and higher employee mobility in the post-pandemic landscape.
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