Top 5 IT cos’ net hiring down for FY26; uncertainties to continue

The top five Indian IT services companies saw its total headcount drop by 6,981 for the last financial year, a swing from the year before when the headcount was up by 12,718.

- AVIK DAS

The outlook for this fiscal looked very bleak with three out of the five not putting a concrete number around the hiring of fresh engineering graduates.

The drop in total headcount was primarily led by TCS, which let go of more than 12,000 employees in July as part of its plan to adapt to the changing technology world, driven by artificial intelligence (AI). TCS’ net headcount dropped by 23,460 during the fiscal along with Tech Mahindra, whose headcount also dipped by 1,108. Infosys, Wipro and HCL saw net additions.

This will also be one of those years that had the slow start to fresher hiring momentum. TCS gave a fresher hiring number of 25,000 for FY27, and Infosys on Thursday said it will add 20,000 freshers this year. For TCS, this would be the slowest start of its fresher hiring numbers.