IT biggies add 33,000 professionals in December quarter

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 02:53 IST
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New Delhi: During the quarter ended in December last year, major IT companies in the country have added close to 33,000 professionals. Infosys Technologies alone snapped up over 11,600 professionals on a gross basis during this period, reported Business Line. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies, four IT exporters who have declared their results for the October to December quarter, have logged a combined gross hiring of over 32,800 professionals, while the net additions add up to over 16,800. "The hiring for the full industry is expected to be 4,50,000 to 4,70,000 people in FY09, against an estimated 4,30,000 this year," said T.V. Mohandas Pai, Director, Human Resources, Infosys Technologies. However, the supply of lateral hires was limited and industry depends largely on freshers, who graduate once a year, Pai said, adding that, "We need to re-look at the system of graduation in such a way that students can enter college system twice a year and graduate. This will help even-out the supply issues." According to TCS, the hiring in FY09 will be almost at similar levels as this year, except a slight easing of wage inflation. "This year we gave employees 14 to 15 percent jump, against 12 to 15 per cent last year. Going forward, it is likely to be in 10 to 12 percent range," said S. Padmanabhan, Executive Director (HR), TCS. D.K. Srivastava, HR head of HCL Technologies, expects a change in the mix of hiring in coming quarters. "The industry is looking at hiring BSc graduates in a big way and imparting extensive training to them," he said.