Infosys slashed hiring by 46% in FY23, causing drop in headcount while resisting layoffs

The future of India's IT employees looks relatively stable considering the global tech layoffs leaving lakhs without a job amid a hiring freeze. But a worldwide recession is starting to show its effects with Indian IT major Infosys' profit missing market expectations.

With uncertainty about orders, Infosys slashed hiring for FY23 by 46 per cent, which has also led to a drop in its overall headcount.

Falling attrition didn't help

• The overall number of people at Infosys has gone down by 3,611, even though it hired 1,627 professionals during the financial year.

• The attrition rate falling from 24.3 per cent to 20.9 per cent, which is still higher than other top IT firms in India, didn't stop its headcount from falling either.

• The firm that fired 600 freshers for failing an internal test, also added that it hired 51,000 freshers in FY23, which is higher than 50,000 which it had planned.

Sector shaken by uncertainty

• With the tech job market jostled by uncertainty, the net hiring of engineers by IT firms in India is expected to drop by 50 per cent in FY24.

• The hiring activity could also change in the next six months, depending on revisions in growth forecasts by IT firms.

• The sector which had record hiring and attrition at the same time for FY22 and the first two quarters of FY23, is expected to trim headcount addition by 40 per cent in FY24 due to inflation.