TCS to hire additional 10k-12k freshers in current year amid 21% attrition

IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said it was willing to hire at least 10,000 to 12,000 freshers in the ongoing year apart from the 35,000 it onboarded till September 30, as attrition rate remains above 20 per cent.

TCS on Monday announced its results for the quarter that ended on September 30. The attrition rate for the company’s IT Services business stood at 21.5 per cent in the last twelve months (LTM). While the top leaders said the attrition may moderate in coming quarters, it was expected to remain higher than the company’s target.

“Attrition will need at least four quarters to come down to 20 per cent. But the overall number of people leaving the company will come down significantly,” said Milind Lakkad, Chief Human Resources Officer of TCS.

Top Indian companies are battling high attrition rates in the past few quarters. The Indian IT industry recorded 25.2 per cent employee attrition in FY22. The trend continued in Q1 FY23, with Infosys reporting the highest attrition at 28.4 per cent, followed by HCL at 23.8 per cent, and Wipro at 23.3 per cent.

TCS has plans to strengthen its workforce by hiring freshers and training them for the productivity needed to address demand.

“Last two quarters we have hired 35,000 freshers from the campus. Out of this, 20,000 were hired in the second quarter alone. We have invested the last 6-9 months in talent development, coupled with hiring some additions from the market,” Lakkad said. He added that the company recruited around 119,000 newcomers from the campus last year.

When asked about the work model, Lakkad said one-third of the workforce was working from the office at least two times a week. The number of employees coming to the office will continue to increase, he added. On moonlighting, Lakkad said it was an ethical issue and it was “against the core values and culture of TCS. We are communicating our policy with the employees.”