Wipro sees headcount decline for the fourth consecutive quarter, ends Q2FY24 with 5,051 fewer employees

Bengaluru-based IT major Wipro saw its headcount decline for the fourth consecutive quarter, ending the September quarter with 5,051 fewer employees than in the previous quarter. With this, the company's headcount stands at 2,44,707. Wipro started severely reducing its headcount addition numbers in the same quarter last year, having added 577 employees in Q2FY23.

The industry has witnessed a decrease in net headcount, with a cumulative decline of over 16,000 employees across TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech. Among these, Infosys experienced the most significant reduction, with a net headcount decline of 7,530.

Attrition at Wipro came in at 15.5 percent on a last-twelve-month basis, down from 17.3 percent in the preceding quarter.

Last quarter, Wipro Chief Human Resources Officer Saurabh Govil told Moneycontrol that it was not backfilling all attrition, especially if people are on the bench — and improve utilisation.

He had also said that with artificial intelligence (AI), the connection between growth and headcount will diverge, as the technology brings in productivity and helps the company increase revenue as well.

Net utilisation excluding trainees increased from 83.7 to 84.5 percent this quarter.

This comes as the company's FY22 campus recruits continue to wait to be onboarded, and the company did not go to campuses in FY23. Despite many candidates taking other opportunities, delays continue. With peers such as Infosys not hitting campuses yet this year, it remains to be seen if Wipro will choose to skip the campus for a second year.

The company reported $2.71 billion in revenue for the second quarter of FY24, down 2 percent in constant currency terms. Its EBIT margins were 16.1 percent.