Infosys hires 12,000 freshers in first half, on track to hire 20,000 for FY26

A billboard of Infosys Technologies Ltd's office in Bangalore.(Courtesy: Reuters file photo)

IT services major Infosys has hired 12,000 freshers for the first half of the fiscal year 2026, and is on track reach its 20,000 fresher hiring target for the year, Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka said at the company’s second quarter earnings conference on October 16.

Infosys also announced its fifth consecutive quarter of net headcount addition as it added 8,203 employees in Q2. For H1FY26, net addition stood at 8,413 taking the overall headcount to 331,991.

Attrition for the quarter fell to 14.3 percent, from last quarter’s 14.4 percent on a last-twelve-month basis.

“In the beginning of the year, we were aiming for 15,000-20,000 freshers. But in the first half itself we have hired about 12,000 freshers. So, we are now on track to hire a total of 20,000 freshers this year,” Sanghrajka said.

Meanwhile, rival HCLTech hired 7,180 freshers in H1FY26.

In July, the software major said it is ramping up hiring this year, having added 17,000 employees in the first quarter, with plans to recruit 20,000 fresh graduates this fiscal, Parekh told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview.

The company’s bullish stance on growth, driven by increased corporate spending on artificial intelligence and cloud computing, stands in stark contrast to rival Tata Consultancy Services, which recently announced a 2 percent workforce reduction amid a gap in skilling and technology shift.

Infosys Ltd reported a 13.2 percent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 7,364 crore for the July-September quarter (Q2 FY26), driven by resilient margins, strong cash generation and steady deal momentum. The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 23 per share, marking a 9.5 percent increase over the previous year.

Consolidated revenue grew 8.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 44,490 crore. Operating margin came in at 21 percent, broadly stable on a year-ago basis.

Both net profit and revenue came above CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of Rs 7,266.5 crores and Rs 44142 crores respectively. On the operating margin front, however, it was a miss as the estimate was 21.3%.