HCL Tech to hire 3,000 in Q1

Software exporter HCL Technologies (HCL Tech) today said it will hire about 3,000 people in the July-September quarter.

"We have already hired 3,000 people in the June quarter. In this quarter, we will hire an additional 3,000 freshers," HCL Tech chief executive Vineet Nayar told reporters here.

The Indian IT industry is ramping up its headcount as it gears up to meet renewed demand for IT services following a slump during the economic meltdown.

The companies are also building up bench strengths to handle the bigger size and variety of projects they expect to grab in the coming months.

Larger rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to hire about 60,000 people this fiscal, while peers Wipro and Infosys are also hiring aggressively.

The move to hire more people, coupled with wage hikes, will have an impact of about 300 basis points (bps) on the first quarter numbers of HCL Tech.

"We expect the September quarter margins to drop 300 bps. Of this, about 250 bps would be on account of wage hikes and the remaining 50 bps on new hires," Nayar said.

The company, which follows a July-June fiscal, has given a 12-14% wage hike for its India staff, while onsite salaries have been increased by 2-3%. The wage hikes are effective July 1.

HCLT is, however, confident of making up for the drop in margins. "Though we are expecting a 300 bps drop in margins in Q1, we will recover in the next three quarters," he said.

The company also plans a capital expenditure of $230 million in FY12.

"Last year, our capex was at $170 million. This year, we are stepping up our capex to $230 million. Most of this will go toward expansion of campuses," HCL Tech Chief Financial Officer Anil Chanana said.