Has the hiring winter in India’s tech sector finally reversed? TCS has reported its strongest hiring in 4 years. The tech giant’s hiring jumped over 3 times the number of employees it hired in previous quarter, Q4FY26. Its workforce saw a net addition of more than 9,000 employees in Q1FY27. All eyes are now on other tech giants and the hiring trends therein.
TCS hiring mirrors Accenture’s hiring approach
Speaking on lateral hiring, TCS has said that recruitment is concentrated on domain specialists and AI-ready professionals. “Over 50% of the lateral hires already possess next gen skills and management expect this share to increase.”
Brokerage firm Nuvama noted that TCS’ hiring momentum mirrors Accenture, which reported a net addition of around 12,000 employees during the quarter.
“TCS appears to be well set for recovery in FY27, given its commentary and strong hiring in Q1,” Nuvama noted.
Here is a look at the key expectations from the other large-cap technology companies like Infosys, HCLTech and Wipro.
Will Infosys begin its FY27 hiring plan?
Infosys, at its last Investor Day, had announced plans to hire 20,000 freshers in FY27. Investors will be keen to see how much of it is undertaken in the first quarter. The IT giant had added the same number of freshers in FY26 as well.
With the addition of 5,016 employees, Infosys’ headcount at the end of FY26 was over 328,594, up from 323,578 in FY25. However, on a quarterly basis, the company’s headcount declined by 8,440 employees in Q4FY26.
Voluntary attrition for Infosys reduced by 1.5% to 12.6% for the year, reflecting continued softness and the company’s interventions toward talent retention.
| Company | Latest Headcount | Latest Net Employee Addition | Attrition |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCS | 613,069 (Q1FY27) | +9,279 (Q1FY27) | 13.8% |
| Infosys | 328,594 (FY26-end/Q4FY26) | -8,440 (Q4FY26) | 12.6% |
| HCLTech | 227,181 (Q4FY26) | +802 (Q4FY26) | 12.5% |
| Wipro | 242,156 (Q4FY26) | +136 (Q4FY26) | 13.8% |
HCLTech – No FY27 hiring guidance yet
HCLTech had not announced any specific fresher hiring or overall hiring guidance for FY27.
However, the company continued to add talent till last quarter. It had added 1,712 freshers in Q4FY26, taking the fresher addition in FY26 to 11,744. The last twelve months (LTM) attrition was at 12.5% in Q4FY26, down from 13.0% in Q4FY25.
Its overall workforce increased by 802 employees sequentially to 227,181.
Wipro: Sentiment cautious
Wipro did not announce any large-scale hiring plans or fresher intake during the quarter, However, management reiterated that it continues to invest in its people. “We have continued to invest in our clients, capabilities and people and maintained our margins in narrow band.”
However, Wipro has announced wage hike from March 1 which is expected to impact on the company’s margins, according to analysts.
Wipro In Q4FY26 the company added only 136 employees taking the total headcount at the end of the FY26 to 242,156 employees. Voluntary attrition stayed unchanged at 13.8% on a trailing 12-month basis, while net utilisation (excluding trainees) improved to 83.5% from 83.1% in the previous quarter .
Conclusion
Though the long-term outlook for most tech companies continue to be cautious, there is some near-term cheer. The street will watch out for the commentary from Infisys, HCLTech and Wipro on their plans to add manpower in the current financial year. That said, TCS’ strong hiring in Q1 is being seen as an encouraging development.