Tech-services outsourcing giant, Wipro Limited, has adopted a more cautious approach to hiring engineering graduates this year due to the cautious behaviour of its clients, who are tightening their belts in terms of spending. Instead of their usual recruitment drive, Wipro has decided to prioritise individuals to whom they have already extended job offers but haven’t yet brought into the fold. This shift in strategy comes in the wake of the firm’s report of slowing sales in the fiscal second quarter, along with net income figures that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Wipro’s Chief Human Resources Officer Saurabh Govil explained the company’s altered approach, citing the changing industry landscape. “This year the environment has changed, as you’ve seen across the industry, so we will be cautious,” he said. This fiscal year, Wipro is likely to hire fewer fresh graduates. Notably, the tech firm had onboarded 22,000 new graduates in the previous fiscal year ending in March.
Fall in recruitments in India’s IT sector
Wipro is not the only player in the Indian IT sector revising its recruitment strategy. India’s IT bellwether Infosys, which had hired over 50,000 graduates in the last fiscal year, has announced its reluctance to conduct campus placements in the fiscal year through March 2024. Meanwhile, HCL Technologies has scaled back its graduate intake to approximately 10,000, a reduction of 5,000 from its prior plan and half the number hired the previous year.
All of these companies, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), are driven by the objective of cost reduction and enhanced employee productivity.
India’s colossal $245 billion IT services sector has historically been a significant source of employment for the nation. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian IT services firms aggressively expanded their workforce as global companies outsourced to ensure the smooth operation of their businesses. However, the subsequent cooling of this boom, coupled with clients’ financial constraints due to high interest rates, inflation, and global economic uncertainty arising from geopolitical tensions, has led IT firms to pause or curtail their hiring initiatives.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)