Latest news with #CVijayakumar
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
TCS layoffs: Will other Indian IT firms follow suit?
BENGALURU: A day after the country's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced about 12,260 job cuts, techies and freshers are now concerned whether other IT firms will follow suit. Big tech giants such as Microsoft and IBM have fired 15,000 and 8,000 employees respectively this year alone. But this is the first time in recent years that an Indian IT services company has announced its biggest ever job cut. Prior to this layoff announcement, TCS updated its talent deployment policy and limited the bench period to 35 days for its employees. Jefferies in its note said the ongoing layoffs will hurt employee morale and could potentially lead to execution slippages in the near term. "In the longer run, such policies could drive a sharp rise in attrition, similar to what was seen at Cognizant during 2020-22," it said. Recently, HCLTech said it is also executing a restructuring programme for both people and non-people assets. C Vijayakumar, CEO & Managing Director, HCLTech, during the Q1 post-earnings press conference said that the restructuring plan is mostly for facilities outside India that they have not been utilising. "There will be some talent ramp-down, especially in geographies outside India and that will be a part of the restructuring plan. We expect all of this to happen starting from Q2, Q3, and some parts of Q4,' he added. HR experts point out that for the past 1-2 years, the IT industry is going through various challenges including the impact of new technologies such as AI. IT firms are upskilling the majority of its workforce and there has been a shift in companies' focus -- more on outcome-based business models. What is the potential impact of AI on technology roles and functions? Kamal Karanth, Co-founder, Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, said the potential for AI to impact existing and future tech workforce varies between the lower, mid and higher complexity spectrums of tech roles and functions. "Lower spectrum of roles are largely rule-based functions and highly objective, repeatable and transferable. The threat of AI replacing human role-holders is high and imminent in these rule-based functions. As Agentic AI tools and LLM (large language model) processes mature, the potential of AI replacing human role-holders will increase in this layer," he said. Roles like Test Engineers, Application Testers, QA Tester, SW Test Engineers and QA Engineers would fall in this spectrum. QA/QC Roles in both manual & automation domains would become highly replaceable roles as AI matures in the near-term. This cohort of roles accounts for more than a third (36%-40%) of the total talent pool in the IT Sector's Testing and QA/QC function, he explained.
Mint
6 days ago
- Business
- Mint
C Vijayakumar, one of Indian IT's longest-serving CEOs, gets a third term at HCLTech
C Vijayakumar, already one of Indian IT's longest-serving CEOs, is set for a third stint as chief executive of HCL Technologies. Late on Thursday the board of the Noida-based company granted him a five-year extension. In a stock exchange filing, HCLTech said it approved Vijayakumar's reappointment from 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2030, subject to the approval of shareholders. Vijayakumar, 57, is a HCLTech veteran who has spent around three decades at the company. He first occupied its corner office in October 2016. He was given a second term on 20 July 2021 and handed the additional responsibility as managing director when then chief strategy officer Shiv Nadar stepped down. Srikrishna Ramakarthikeyan of Hexaware Technologies is Indian IT's longest-serving CEO, having taken over in August 2014. Vijayakumar is the longest-serving CEO among the top five IT firms, followed by Salil Parekh, 60, who joined Infosys as CEO in January 2018 and remains in the role. Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra have been a change at the top in the past 30 months. Vijayakumar oversaw HCLTech's toppling of Wipro Ltd as the country's third-largest IT outsourcer in July 2018. Seven years later, the pecking order at the top remains unchanged. He is also the highest-earning chief executive of an Indian IT firm, having bagged ₹ 84.16 crore in salary as of March 2024. His current salary is unknown as HCLTech is yet to release its annual report for FY25. A major reason for his extension is the company's outperformance in relation to its peers. Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025, HCLTech grew at a compound annual rate of 8.94%, the highest among the top five IT firms. Under CVK, as he is known within the company, HCLTech added $9.3 billion in incremental revenue between 1 October 2016 and 31 June 2025. This is almost the size of Wipro Ltd, India's fourth-largest IT outsourcer. The company also won its largest deal under Vijayakumar in August 2023. HCLTech bagged a six-year contract with US telecom company Verizon Communications that would fetch it $2.1 billion. It has also bet on software products, making it one of the few software outsourcers to purchase and license intellectual property, and build and sell software products to clients. The company's confidence in Vijayakumar also stems from the fact that HCLTech has grown the fastest among the top five for two straight years, at a time when clients have been wary of macroeconomic uncertainties and growth in the $283-billion IT industry has slowed. HCLTech ended the last fiscal year with $13.8 billion of revenue, up 4.3%. Vijayakumar has had his challenges, such as increasing the company's operating margins. Over the past eight years, HCLTech's operating margins tanked 200 basis points to 18.3% in FY25. Still, shareholders haven't lost faith. HCLTech's shares have jumped 87% since Vijayakumar took over as CEO, and closed at ₹ 1,506.95 on Thursday.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HCLTech doubles down on specialised talent hiring
Bengaluru: HCLTech is offering up to four times higher compensation for freshers who specialise in high-demand areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and digital engineering. Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer at HCLTech, said, "Our recruitment emphasises niche capabilities in data, AI, cyber and enterprise technology. " He noted that about 15%–20% of this year's fresher intake is expected to fall into the premium skill category, subject to candidates meeting company standards. HCLTech aims to exceed last year's fresher hiring number of 7,850 in the current fiscal. While there is no fixed target for premium fresher hiring, the company sees strong early traction. HCLTech has significantly onboarding 1,984 freshers in the June quarter—double the intake from the same period last year. To support its AI-first approach, HCLTech has trained 127,000 employees in foundational AI, with 42,000 certified in advanced generative AI. Currently, 12,000 professionals are engaged in GenAI projects—a number that is expected to grow in the coming quarters. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru This large-scale upskilling is central to HCLTech's transition toward agentic AI, which includes its AI Force platform and integration of GenAI into software and operational workflows. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Its CEO and MD C Vijayakumar said, "Our aim is to achieve 18%–19% margins through technology investments and strategic workforce planning." Despite a sequential decline of 161 basis points in EBIT margin—largely due to premium hiring and skill-location mismatches—the company expects to resolve these headwinds within two quarters. On lateral hiring, HCLTech continues to take a demand-led approach. Sundararajan said, "Lateral recruitment has remained steady over five quarters, focusing on meeting client requirements." The company believes it stands out through its engineering depth, proprietary IP, and AI-enabled service transformation, even as GenAI adoption becomes more widespread across the industry. Vijayakumar said, "Our focus is on comprehensive enterprise solutions beyond basic coding assistance." While acknowledging that only 15%–20% of the available talent is currently "AI-ready," he said HCLTech remains confident in its talent acquisition and development programmes.
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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
HCL Tech shares slide 4% as analysts trim estimates post Q1 miss
Shares of HCL Technologies tumbled over 4 per cent on Tuesday after the technology major reported a sequential decline in net profit in the first quarter and cut its margin guidance for the full fiscal year. The IT giant's stock fell as much as 4.31 per cent during the day to ₹1,550 per share, the biggest intraday fall since April 7 this year. The stock pared gains to trade 3 per cent lower at ₹1,569.7 apiece, compared to a 0.55 per cent advance in Nifty 50 as of 11:45 AM. HCL Tech Q1FY26 results The IT services firm reported a net profit of ₹3,843 crore for the first quarter of the financial year 2026 (Q1-FY26), down 9.72 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). On a sequential basis, profit was down 10.7 per cent. The company reported 3.7 per cent constant-currency (CC) revenue growth for the April-June quarter. Revenue from financial services was up 6.8 per cent, technology 13.7 per cent, and telecommunications 13 per cent. The manufacturing and life sciences verticals were down 1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. HCL Tech FY26 guidance HCL expects revenue to grow 3-5 per cent on a CC basis for the full year, up from 2-5 per cent it had projected in April. However, the firm cut its Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) margin guidance to 17-18 per cent from 18-19 per cent earlier. The company said the margins would be impacted due to restructuring. HCL Tech management commentary 'The macro environment remained stable from an overall perspective, with some variations across verticals, but the overall situation did not deteriorate as feared at the start of the quarter,' said C Vijayakumar, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director, at a news conference. 'We won a large consolidation deal in financial services this quarter, which is not accounted for in the total contract value (TCV) for the first quarter,' Vijayakumar added. The value of the new deal bookings stood at $1.81 billion. Analysts on HCL results Nuvama Institutional Equities said that weak margins in Q1-FY26 and a guidance cut have left HCLTech with almost no earnings per share (EPS) growth expected for FY26. "While we continue to favour its strong revenue growth, making it the fastest-growing among the top five IT firms, earnings have been impacted by lower margin expectations." Nuvama downgraded the stock to 'hold' and said that it now trades at a slight premium to TCS and Infosys, limiting further upside. Emkay Global noted that HCLTech's Q1FY26 operating performance was weaker than expected, primarily due to a margin miss, although revenue was in line. The brokerage lowered its FY26-28 earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 3-7 per cent, factoring in the Q1 results and the margin guidance cut. It retained 'Reduce' rating and revised the target price by around 5 per cent to ₹1,660. Nomura cut its FY26-27 EPS estimates by around 2-5 per cent and slashed the target price to ₹1,810 (from ₹1,840 earlier). "We expect the street to look past the near-term margin miss, as margins are likely to recover in FY27, and instead focus on HCLTech's continued revenue outperformance."
Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
HCL Tech slides as Q1 PAT falls 11% QoQ to Rs 3,843 cr
HCL Technologies declined 3.08% to Rs 1,570.05 after the company reported a 10.77% drop in net profit to Rs 3,843 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2025 (Q1 FY26), compared to Rs 4,307 crore in the previous quarter (Q4 FY25). Revenue from operations increased slightly to Rs 30,349 crore in Q1 FY26, up from Rs 30,246 crore in Q4 FY25. In dollar terms, the company's revenue stood at $3,545 million, up 1.34% QoQ. However, in constant currency (CC) terms, revenue declined 0.8% sequentially. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for Q1 FY26 fell 9.18% to Rs 4,942 crore, compared to Rs 5,442 crore in Q4 FY25. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the companys net profit dropped 9.72%, while revenue grew 8.16%. The company reported a Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) of 38.1%, up 353 basis points (bps) YoY. Its services segment recorded ROIC of 45.2%, up 236 bps YoY. On a last-twelve-months (LTM) basis, Operational Cash Flow (OCF) stood at $2,571 million, while Free Cash Flow (FCF) came in at $2,421 million. HCLTechs total contract value (TCV) of new deal wins for Q1 FY26 stood at $1,812 million. The companys Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per equity share for FY 202526. The record date for the dividend is 18 July 2025, and the payment date is set for 28 July 2025. HCLTech added 269 net employees during the quarter, bringing its total headcount to 223,151 as of 30 June 2025. This includes the addition of 1,984 freshers. The companys LTM attrition rate remained stable at 12.8%, unchanged from the same period last year. For FY26, HCLTech has provided guidance indicating that overall company revenue is expected to grow between 3.0% and 5.0% year-on-year in constant currency (CC) terms. The Services segment is also projected to register a similar 3.0% to 5.0% YoY growth in CC. Additionally, the company expects its EBIT margin to range between 17.0% and 18.0% for the fiscal year. C Vijayakumar, CEO & managing director of HCLTech, said, We had healthy revenue growth of 3.7% YoY supported by good performance in our Services business with 4.5% YoY growth in constant currency. Our operating margin came at 16.3%, impacted by lower utilization and additional Gen AI and GTM investments. Our AI propositions are resonating well with our clients and have been augmented further by our partnership with OpenAI. Our pipeline continues to grow as the demand environment was stable during the quarter. As the only service provider positioned as Customer's Choice in all 6 Gartner Voice of Customer Quadrant evaluations related to IT services, we are well positioned to grow in the AI era. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCLTech, said, "AI has become integral to the business growth of global enterprises. HCLTechs capabilities and strategic partnerships ensure our AI-led solutions are practical, comprehensive, and significant value creators to our clients. We also remain intensely focused on the ethical deployment of AI and maximizing its positive social impact. HCLTech is a global technology company with more than 223,000 employees across 60 countries. It delivers industry-leading capabilities in digital, engineering, cloud, and AI, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. HCLTech works with clients across all major industries, providing tailored solutions for financial services, manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, high tech, semiconductors, telecom and media, retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG), and public services. For the 12-month period ending June 2025, the company reported consolidated revenues of $14.0 billion.
