Breaking: DMart's RK Damani, SBI Mutual Fund likely to pick up Lenskart shares worth Rs 200 crore

One quick thing: Peak XV Partners to lead $25 million round in Stable Money

In today’s newsletter: 

• Top 5 Indian IT firms see 79% drop in H1 hiring
• The Zepto and DMart tango
• WinZO turns to gold after real-money gaming ban

Programming note: Wishing all our readers a Happy Diwali. There will be no edition of MCTech3 on October 20 and 21; we’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday (October 22)!

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India’s top five IT firms saw a 79% plunge year-on-year in H1FY26 net hiring, with Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) massive headcount drop dragging down the overall numbers.

• The top five—TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra—added a net 2,686 employees in the first half of the fiscal year
   

• TCS shed 19,755 roles in July-September, its steepest-ever quarterly decline, as it trims about 2% of its global workforce to stay agile
  
  

• In Q2, Infosys added 8,203 employees, Tech Mahindra added 4,197, HCLTech’s headcount grew by 3,489, and Wipro’s headcount was up by 2,260

TCS CHRO Sudeep Kunnumal said, so far, TCS has released only about 1% of its workforce, that’s roughly 6,000 employees as part of restructuring.

• He said that despite a QoQ decline in headcount, the company has onboarded 18,500 new employees in the July-September quarter 

Despite cuts, entry-level hiring remains resilient.

• TCS plans to add over 42,000 freshers this year, but doesn’t give quarterly break up
  
  
• Infosys has hired 12,000 of its 20,000 FY26 target
  
  
• HCLTech hit 92% of last year’s total with 7,180 hires in H1
  
  
• Wipro targets 10,000–12,000 for FY26; and added about 5,900 employees in H1

As the hiring chill continues, there’s still a cautious recalibration across the IT sector—efficiency over expansion—even as strong deal wins and AI-led demand keep fresher pipelines open

Go deeper

One’s built for speed, the other for savings — and Zepto’s betting it can master both as the quick commerce race gets tighter.

One’s cracked the price tag, the other cracked the clock.

• A day after Zepto’s $450 million fundraise, CEO Aadit Palicha, in a townhall meeting, told employees the firm had “cracked proximity but not value,” unlike DMart, which had done the reverse

• He said both are “stuck at the same juncture,” with Zepto chasing affordability and DMart chasing speed, we have learnt

Zepto now runs 800–1,000 dark stores to DMart’s 432 — but the supermarket still carts home more revenue.

The shelf space for survival is shrinking fast.

• Palicha predicted only two or three quick commerce players will survive the shakeout

He reminded staff Zepto has climbed from “number seven to number two” in just a few years.

• The focus, he said, is now on “solving for value” — lowering prices without losing pace

After the fundraising rush, Zepto’s sharing the spoils with its own shoppers — the employees.

• It expanded its ESOP pool by $170 million to over $500 million — among the largest in India’s startup ecosystem

• An interest-free Rs 700 crore loan to its employee trust will help staff exercise stock options easily

The move signals Zepto’s intent to keep its talent stocked and loyal as the quick commerce contest intensifies.

Dig deeper

What happens when your core revenue-generating business suddenly gets banned? You try a bunch of things and see what sticks. It looks like WinZO is doing just that!

WinZO has launched ZO Gold to foray into digital gold investments. It comes just ahead of Dhanteras, which is considered auspicious for gold purchases. 

• WinZO has partnered with digital gold platform SafeGold for this feature

The move will help WinZO diversify its offerings after the government banned real-money games in the country.

• A few months ago, Dream11 parent Dream Sports also launched a personal money management app, Dream Money, that allows people to invest in gold and fixed deposits

ZO Gold allows people to buy gold starting at Rs 51 or set up a SIP on a daily or a weekly basis, starting from Rs 11. 

• People can also convert their digital gold for physical jewellery through SafeGold's partners such as Tanishq and Caratlane

Following the government's blanket ban on real-money games, WinZO launched ZO TV to tap into the growing popularity of microdramas in the country.

• It also introduced ZO Pass, a subscription service that provides access to ZO TV, more than 50 premium games, and features such as instant withdrawals

Additionally, WinZO is expanding its international footprint by entering the U.S. market, two years after its debut in Brazil. 

Go deeper

• Salesforce was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit by two authors who alleged the company used thousands of books without permission to train its artificial intelligence software.
  
  
• OpenAI has temporarily stopped its AI app Soracreating deepfake videos portraying Dr Martin Luther King Jr, following a request from his estate.

Take flight with a Viking and dive into a dark mystery. 

How to Train Your Dragon, directed by Dean DeBlois, blends fantasy, humour, and heartfelt friendship as a boy and dragon rewrite old beliefs. Watch it on JioHotstar

If you crave thrills, Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas stars Arshad Warsi and Jitendra Kumar in a gripping crime drama uncovering shocking conspiracies behind missing girls. Watch it on Zee5

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