Net hiring down for TCS, Infosys: IT industry stares at jobless growth

TCS, Infosys showed net hiring decline in Q1 versus Q4 last year

India’s IT services industry is staring at jobless growth because its top employers are focusing on automation to improve productivity and deliver services while they battle shifts in technology to remain profitable.

In the first quarter of FY18, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, which account for around a fifth of India’s software exports of $117 billion, saw their employee headcount reduce over the previous three months. TCS’ employee count dipped by 1,415 to 385,809, while in Infosys it reduced by 1,811 to 198,553.

The reduction in the employee base in the first quarter — the strongest three-month period for IT