Top 5 Indian IT Firms See 79% Drop in H1 Hiring as TCS Reports Record Headcount Loss
Top 5 Indian IT Firms See 79% Drop in H1 Hiring as TCS Reports Record Headcount Loss
Despite steady fresher intake by Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, a massive employee reduction at TCS drags overall hiring numbers for the first half of FY26.
India’s top five IT services companies — TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra — have reported a sharp slowdown in hiring during the first half of FY26, with total net additions plunging by 79.25% year-on-year.
The biggest drag came from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which reported a net loss of over 19,700 employees in the July–September quarter, its steepest decline ever. The overall net addition across the top five IT firms stood at just 2,686 employees during the period.
TCS, India’s largest private-sector employer, is reportedly trimming its workforce globally by around 2% (over 12,000 jobs) as part of a restructuring aimed at becoming more agile and future-ready amid rapid technological disruptions.
Meanwhile, the other IT majors — Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra — showed signs of recovery, driven by robust deal wins and steady demand for digital transformation and AI-driven projects.
Company-wise hiring snapshot (Q2 FY26):
- TCS: Net decline of 19,755 employees — its largest quarterly fall on record.
- Infosys: Added 8,203 employees and has already hired 12,000 freshers in H1, close to its annual target of 20,000.
- HCLTech: Headcount up by 3,489; has onboarded 7,180 freshers so far, nearing its previous year’s total intake.
- Wipro: Added 2,260 employees; hired 2,900 freshers in Q2, taking its H1 fresher intake to 5,900. The firm plans to hire 10,000–12,000 freshers in FY26.
- Tech Mahindra: Added 4,197 employees; hiring plans remain flexible based on project demand and market outlook.
HCLTech’s Chief People Officer, Ram Sundararajan, noted that the company’s headcount rise of 1.6% compared with a 2.4% revenue growth indicates improved revenue per employee. He added that HCLTech’s focus on a “train-and-hire” model is helping speed up project deployment.
At Wipro, Chief Human Resources Officer Saurabh Govil said the company is now investing more in pre-joining training with campuses to make new hires project-ready faster.
While most IT majors remain cautiously optimistic about hiring in the second half of FY26, experts suggest that fresher intake may remain selective and skill-focused, particularly in AI, automation, and cloud engineering roles.
