Infosys, a major player in the IT services industry, has introduced a ‘power programme’ as part of its campus placement drive, offering packages of up to Rs 9 lakh per annum to select colleges, according to two sources familiar with the development. This is a significant increase from the company’s standard entry-level fresher pay packages, which typically range from Rs 3-3.5 lakh.
One of the sources told ET, “The focus of these categories of hiring is on coding and software challenges, programming skill testing and other specialised skill tests for both tests and interviews.” They added, “For Infosys, these pay packages offered are between Rs 4-6.5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh.”
The starting salaries for freshers at leading IT companies like TCS and Infosys typically range from Rs 3-4 lakh.However, due to the current subdued demand environment and weak macro conditions, IT firms are increasingly focusing on hiring specialized skilled talent in areas such as cloud computing, AI/ML, and cybersecurity to work on the growing number of digital transformation projects.
This initiative is similar to Tata Consultancy Services’ ‘Prime’ programme, which was launched last year and offers specialised hiring of freshers for software development profiles with salaries ranging from Rs 9-11 lakh per annum. TCS has expanded the scope of ‘Prime’ this year, incorporating newer technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI (GenAI), and machine learning (ML).
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After a slowdown lasting nearly four quarters, Infosys plans to hire 15,000-20,000 graduates in FY25, while TCS aims to hire approximately 40,000 freshers, consistent with its hiring numbers from the previous year.
TCS currently hires freshers under three categories: ‘Ninja’, which offers packages around Rs 3.6 lakh; ‘Digital’, which offers packages at Rs 7.5 lakh; and ‘Prime’. Both TCS and Infosys did not respond to requests for comment until press time Monday.
In the post-earnings conference call last month, Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka said, “As you know, in the last multiple quarters, we have moved to the agile hiring base. That basically means we hire freshers both from the campus and off the campus.”
Over the past year, the slowing business of the $250-billion technology services sector has led most software exporters, known for mass hiring engineers, to reduce their headcounts. During fiscal 2024, the top five IT companies in India collectively reduced their employee count by more than 70,000.
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TCS experienced an improvement in the June quarter with 5,452 additions, but its net employee count had decreased for the previous three consecutive quarters. In FY24, for the first time in 19 years, the Tata subsidiary and IT bellwether reported an annual drop in its employee base, which fell by 13,249 from FY23.
Infosys also saw a headcount reduction of nearly 2,000 during April to June, bringing its total number of employees to 315,332. HCLTech reported adding 1,078 freshers in the first quarter of FY25, compared to 3,096 in the previous quarter.
During its earnings call last month, Infosys announced that it will resume campus placements and off-campus fresher hiring in the current fiscal year. The top four IT firms in the country are expected to collectively add about 82,000 freshers in FY25, with HCLTech and Wipro planning to hire 10,000 and up to 12,000 freshers, respectively.