HCL Technologies reported a marginal (0.35%) sequential increase in headcount in the March quarter, in line with market leader Tata Consultancy Services’ headcount growth in Q4 (0.4%).
At the end of the fourth quarter, HCLTech’s total headcount stood at 227,181 employees, up 802 sequentially compared to 226,379 in the December quarter.
On a full fiscal basis, headcount grew 1.7% as compared to 223,420 at the end of FY25.
The firm’s revenue on constant currency basis 3.9% setting a faster pace, implying the revenue per employee continues to accelerate, Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer at HCLTech said.
“On a full year basis, we added 11,744 freshers. That’s about 50% more than what we did in FY25. At the beginning of FY26 we had said that our plan for FY26 is to significantly increase the fresher hiring,” he added.
Attrition rate
IT services voluntary attrition was 12.5%, rising marginally from 12.4% in the prior quarter. On a full fiscal basis however, attrition moderated 50 basis points as compared to 13% at the end of FY25.
Sundararajan said HCLTech will continue its differentiated approach to campus recruitment, with its entry-level elite cadre expected to command premium salaries, nearly three to four times higher than the normal fresher band.
He added that fresher hiring outlook for FY27 is “directionally same as FY26”, though he did not put a number to it.
“In the current environment, trying to put out a number on a full year basis, is not the wise thing to do. It’s always going to be managed on a quarterly basis, rolling quarterly basis. Overall, directionally, will be along the similar lines as what we did in FY26,” Sundararajan said.
He added that while there is competition for hiring specialised talent, the firm will continue to hire as per business requirements.
While HCLTech remains bullish on fresher hiring and is continuing with its approach to hire entry level professionals in the “elite” category, the overall hiring outlook mirrored peers Wipro and TCS’ outlook of moving away from hiring to maintain or boost bench strength, to demand visibility led hiring.
He added that the company had the ACE audit system in place to ensure compliance to Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) guidelines. ACE stands for Adequacy, Compliance and Efficiency.