Krish Shankar, the EVP and group HR head of Infosys, recently discussed the company's efforts to improve opportunities for freshers in an interview with The Times of India on March 20. Shankar revealed that, contrary to concerns about stagnation, trainees are now seeing faster promotions and higher salary jumps than they did a few years ago.
Previously, Infosys hired freshers only as software engineers, Shankar said, but now companies hire them for various roles, such as digital engineers and power programmers, who earn a higher salary package. "Power programmers are paid about Rs 6.2 lakh when they join, while digital engineers earn Rs 9 lakh. Thus, the proportion of freshers joining at Rs 3.5 lakh is going down," he added.
Infosys has also made changes to their promotion system, allowing freshers to reach mid-career levels in as little as four years, compared to the 7–8 years it took previously. Shankar attributes this success to the company's Bridge program, which provides training and career counselling for employees who want to shift careers into adjacent or new career tracks.
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The HR head emphasized that Infosys invests heavily in new technology, with a focus on artificial intelligence and cloud-related skills. As he noted, "closing the cloud skill gap has become a key priority" due to the "widened demand-supply chasm for cloud talent." The company's foundation program offers 46 different tech streams, including cloud native development, data science, low code no code, end user computing, and MS Power platforms.
He also clarified the rumours about Infosys firing freshers this year and said they were incorrect. According to him, what happened was nothing new since freshers have to take tests after their training program is over, and those who don't pass have to leave. The test can be taken twice by trainees. Shankar said that the failure rate in the last two years could have been higher due to remote training.
Infosys hired 80,000 freshers in the 2021-22 financial year, and is expected to end this fiscal with 50,000 hires.
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