The headcount in Wipro?s global IT services business dipped sequentially, as its employee size in Q1 FY ?09 reduced to 61,345 people, from a strength of 62,070 at the end of Q4 FY ?08. The dip, according to Wipro, signaled stronger focus on improving productivity and utilisation to meet business uncertainties.

Analysts said that the company?s people-hiring pattern merely reflected the future market dynamics for the IT sector. ?Going forward, there will be more focus on employee utilisation,? said Frost & Sullivan?s senior research analyst (South Asia and Middle East) – Ekta Aggarwal. ?The results are an indicator that the next few years are going to be challenging for the entire Indian IT sector,? she said.

On Thursday, Wipro?s larger competitor TCS had said that it would drive cost-cutting through ?optimum utilisation of talent?.

Wipro chief financial officer Suresh Senapaty said that 3,000 new employees joined Wipro in the end of Q4 of fiscal 2008. ?A big chunk of employees joined us in the end of last quarter in 2008. We have increased utilisation and productivity. Hiring will be more in line with business requirements,? he said.

The company would opt to off-campus and lateral hiring to meet business needs, he said.

Attrition in Wipro?s Global IT services in Q1 FY ?09 was at 16.6%, compared to 18.3% in Q4 of fiscal 2008.

Senapaty said that Wipro would revise staff – remunerations shortly and bring about ?moderations? to wage hikes. The moderations, he said, would be driven by demand-supply situations for the job profiles.

In Q1 FY?09, Wipro added 108 employees across BPO and India, Middle East and IT services businesses. Wipro currently employs 95, 675 people across its businesses.