HCLTech maintained its FY27 guidance, and the Q1FY27 net profit beat estimates, but in terms of net employee addition, the company has seen significant decline on a sequential basis. Even the attrition rate has come in a shade higher than Q4, though it is lower than TCS’, which traditionally has one of the highest attrition rates in the industry.
However, the comparison ends there. While TCS saw the strongest hiring in 4 years in Q1, HCLTech reported that the net employee count came in at 223,889. This is down 3,292 employees compared to 227,181 employees in Q4FY26. The employee count had increased marginally the last quarter but saw a sharp fall in Q1.
HCLTech Q1FY27 employee count
| Metric | Q1FY27 | Q4FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Net Headcount Change | -3,292 employees | +802 employees |
| Total Employee Count | 223,889 | 227,181 |
| Freshers Added | 1,056 | 1,712 |
| Attrition Rate (LTM) | 12.7% | 12.5% |
HCLTech Q1FY26-Q1FY27 hiring trends
The analysis of the hiring trend from Q1FY26 to Q1FY27 indicates that the company clocked a strong addition of 3,489 employees in Q2FY26. However, in Q1FY26 the headcount slipped by 269 employees, and in Q3FY26, the headcount fell by 261 employees. After seeing slight improvement in Q4FY26 with the addition of 802 employees, the employee count saw a significant fall in Q1FY27.
HCLTech net headcount (Q1FY26–Q1FY27)
| Quarter | Net Headcount Change | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Q1FY26 | -269 | ▼ |
| Q2FY26 | +3,489 | ▲ |
| Q3FY26 | -261 | ▼ |
| Q4FY26 | +802 | ▲ |
| Q1FY27 | -3,292 | ▼▼ |
It has declined by 3,292 employees on a sequential basis. The total headcount for HCLTech stands at 223,889 employees at the end of Q1FY27. The company added 1,056 freshers in Q1. This is also lower than the 1,712 freshers added last quarter. In fact, when compared to the overall trend in FY26, there is a striking reduction. HCLTech had hired 1,984 freshers in Q1FY26 and increased its fresher hiring significantly in Q2FY26 to 5,196. In Q3FY26 it had added 2,852 freshers.
HCLTech fresher hiring trend
| Quarter | Freshers Added |
|---|---|
| Q1FY26 | 1,984 |
| Q2FY26 | 5,196 |
| Q3FY26 | 2,852 |
| Q4FY26 | 1,712 |
| Q1FY27 | 1,056 |
In fact, the Q1FY27 attrition rate for HCLTech has come in higher at 12.7% compared to 12.5% in Q4FY26. However, this is still lower than the attrition rate seen in Q1FY26. The same quarter last fiscal saw the tech major report an attrition rate of 12.8%. For the next 3 quarters between Q2FY26 and Q4FY26, it kept falling marginally to 12.6%, 12.4% and 12.5% in Q4FY26.
HCLTech attrition trend between Q1FY26-Q1FY27
| Quarter | Attrition Rate |
|---|---|
| Q1FY26 | 12.8% |
| Q2FY26 | 12.6% |
| Q3FY26 | 12.4% |
| Q4FY26 | 12.5% |
| Q1FY27 | 12.7% |
Speaking on future trends, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCLTech added that, “We also remain focused on upskilling our people in emerging technologies and are embedding AI across the organisation.”
HCLTech Q1FY27 performance: Record deal wins
However, in terms of deal wins it has been a record quarter for HCLTech. The company recorded its highest ever Q1 net-new bookings of $2.4 billion and the advanced AI business grew 10.6% QoQ and 62.1% YoY in constant currency terms.
Conclusion
All eyes are now on the hiring trends that would be reported by Wipro and Infosys. Infosys had announced plans to hire 20,000 freshers in FY27 during its Investor Day. However, Wipro had not given a specific hiring plan in Q1 or shared guidance in terms of the FY27 hiring outlook.
