Wipro Tech gives 7-8% annual wage hike to offshore employees

Wipro Technologies, the IT business of Wipro, has given a moderate annual wage hike to its offshore employees in fiscal 2008-09 -- almost half of what was given in the previous fiscal. The company's annual hike given in August this year was in the range of 7-8 per cent when compared to about 11-12 per cent average wage hike which was given a year ago.
 
Although the company declined to comment, the annual hike this year is said to be one of the lowest given by the company so far. However, the good news is that Wipro reported a positive net addition of employees in the second quarter of the fiscal 2008-09 that ended June 30.
 
In the quarter under review, the company added 3,500 people on a gross basis which took the total headcount in the IT and BPO business to 97,552. IT services business which contributes about 73 per cent to the company's consolidated revenue, had an employee base of 75,748 as of September end this fiscal. Almost two-third of the new additions were campus recruits while the rest were laterals.
 
However, on a net basis, the company added about 1,800 people of which about 1,000 were added in the IT services business. The rest were added to the BPO business which had a headcount of 21,804 as per the latest figure. "This is definitely an improvement from the last quarter when we had negative net addition of employees in out IT services business. We are pushing for a non-linearity approach in our hiring plans which is driven by quality than volume," Pratik Kumar, HR Head, Wipro said.
 
He said the company had improved on the utilisation front, with the net utilisation excluding trainees standing at 79.2 per cent at the end of the second quarter. The utilisation rate including the trainees stood at 77 per cent.
 
In spite of the global economic downturn and uncertainties, the company is going ahead with its campus hiring plans although cautiously. Last year, the company had given 14,000 campus offers, and the candidates are expected to join over the course of the year this fiscal. This year, the company has given 8,000 campus offers so far.
 
"This is true that there is a bit of apprehension among the candidates as far as campus hiring is concerned. In any case organisations are making more than 10,000 campus offer every year, and we don't expect them to join in every quarter. They will be taken over the course of the year, and our team is in constant touch with most of these students who have been given offers," added Kumar.