HCLTech cuts FY25 fresher intake to 7,000 from 10,000, cites lower attrition, higher productivity

Going forward, HCLTech said it will focus more on specialised fresher roles

India's third-largest information technology IT services company HCLTech has revised its fresher hiring target for financial year 2024-25 to 7,000 from an earlier guidance of 10,000, citing lower attrition rates and improved productivity.

The company said that the initial figure of 10,000 was a directional plan outlined at the start of the fiscal and that hiring numbers are reviewed quarterly.

“In the first half of the fiscal, we onboarded about 4,000 freshers, followed by 2,134 in Q3, bringing the year-to-date total to 6,000. We expect to add another 1,000 in Q4, taking the final number to approximately 7,000 for FY25,” said Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer, HCLTech, while addressing the press after declaring the third quarter results ending December 31, 2024 (Q3FY25).

Sundararajan added that fresher numbers were moderated during the year due to increased efficiency and productivity measures, such as Project Ascend, which delivered a 100-basis-point improvement in margins.

Project Ascend was introduced by the IT major in Q3 to further the company’s operational efficiencies. HCLTech chief executive officer C Vijayakumar explained that HCLTech has deployed two Generative AI-based solutions, developed in-house, to power its people function. “There is a function, Talent Navigator, which augments internal and external fulfillment, and Mentor Bot, which provides highly personalized guidance and actionable steps for daily work situations,” Vijayakumar said at the press briefing.

In April,2024, HCLTech said it is set to onboard over 10,000 freshers in the fiscal year 2025, including over 10 percent coming in from the off-campus route.

HCLTech, along with TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, announced at the beginning of the fiscal that they were set to hire nearly 88,000 freshers in FY25. This was a song back then for the roughly 15 lakh engineering graduates India produces annually, following a year-long lull in fresher hiring amid slowing demand.

Meanwhile, Sundararajan said the company’s attrition rate, steady at 12–13 percent over the past three to four quarters, has further reduced the need for aggressive fresher hiring.

Going forward, HCLTech will focus more on specialised fresher roles, he said.

“While numbers are based on business forecasts, we are increasingly prioritizing specialization in hiring. Early indications suggest that FY26 fresher hiring will exceed FY25 levels,” the CPO added.

Sundararajan further said that the company expects to finalise its FY26 hiring plans by the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

On January 13, the company reported 5.5 percent on-year rise in net profit at Rs 4,591 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, in line with the Street expectations.

The IT firm declared interim dividend of Rs 18 per equity share of Rs 2 face value, which includes special dividend of Rs 6 per share to celebrate 25 years of HCLTech’s public listing.