Infosys’ headcount declines by 3,611 employees in Q4

Infosys' headcount stands at 3,43,234 as of March 31, 2023.

Infosys ended the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year with 3,611 fewer employees than the preceding quarter, the company said as it announced its numbers for the quarter. The company’s headcount growth for the year was 29,219 employees, down 46 percent from last year’s net addition of 54,396.

With this, Infosys' headcount stands at 3,43,234 as of March 31, 2023. This is the first time since the Covid-hit quarter of FY21 that Infosys is ending a quarter with fewer employees than it had at the end of the previous quarter. In the same quarter last year, Infosys added 21,948 employees.

For each quarter in the fiscal, Infosys has significantly reduced its net addition, a trend it has continued with the fourth quarter as well, a sign of the increasing stress on the IT sector. The company added 21,171 employees on a net basis in Q1, 10,032 in Q2, and 1,627 in Q3, before going into the red in Q4.

The company, which announced its results for Q4FY23, saw its revenue growth in constant currency for the year growing at 15.4 percent, below its guidance of 16-16.5 percent.

Attrition for the quarter fell to 20.9 percent, continuing its downward trend from last quarter’s 24.3 percent on a trailing-twelve-month basis. As the talent market cools off, attrition rates have continued to normalise further.  After attrition reached 28.4 percent in Q1FY23, it slipped to 27.1 percent in Q2FY23 and 24.3 percent in Q3. The company’s leadership has previously said that quarterly annualised attrition has continued to trend downwards, and it was expected to reduce in the near term.

The company hired roughly 51,000 freshers in FY23, taking it a little above its target of 50,000 freshers for the year. However, the company refused to share any numbers or its hiring plans for FY24.

This also comes at a time when the company's utilisation has fallen.

"Utilisation declined to 80 percent on the back of softness of demand. We expect the utilisation to improve gradually in the coming quarters. As freshers start getting deployed, we will calibrate the hiring for FY24 based on the available pool of employees, growth expectations and attrition trends," Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy told analysts.