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Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
AI talent gap: Savvy freshers bag 4x more pay
Representational Image BENGALURU: Technology companies are facing a significant shortfall in AI-specialised talent, with just 15-20% of the workforce trained in artificial intelligence. This has prompted a shift in hiring strategies across the sector. From major IT services firms like HCLTech to digital engineering players like Publicis Sapient and emerging AI startups such as StaqU, the message is consistent: the available talent pool is struggling to match the rapidly growing demand. "There just aren't that many people in the market with AI skills," said Shefali Sharma Garg, chief people officer at Publicis Sapient. "Our approach is to hire agile talent who can evolve as AI matures. It's moving fast, and adaptability is key." The most sought-after roles include engineers skilled in building, training, and deploying AI models, as well as professionals capable of working alongside intelligent systems to drive business outcomes. As a result, compensation for individuals with specialised AI expertise has spiked. HCLTech reports offering up to four times the standard entry-level salary for freshers with niche AI competencies. "We focus on quality over quantity," said Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer at HCLTech. "Roughly 15-20% of our campus intake this year will be specialised hires, and we're happy to expand that if more candidates meet our benchmark." AI skilled freshers At Gurugram-based AI startup StaqU, the recruitment model revolves around hiring young, self-taught engineers - even before they graduate. "We don't hire based on years of experience," said Atul Rai, CEO and co-founder. "We evaluate GitHub contributions, community feedback, and research output. Someone with two years of hands-on GitHub work in AI is more valuable to us than someone with two decades in Java." Yet, sourcing such talent remains a challenge. Rai highlights a broader issue: India's limited research infrastructure and funding prevent it from building foundational AI models on par with countries like the US and China. "We're not building LLMs. We're building applications on top of them - and for that, we need adaptable AI engineers, not just coders," he added. The shortage is also evident at E2E Networks, a cloud-native company empanelled by MeitY. "AI has no fixed curriculum. What's in demand today didn't exist two years ago," said Mohammed Imran, CTO of E2E. "Only two out of 10 candidates clear our AI hiring process." This gap is mirrored in broader industry data. According to a recent Bain & Company report, AI-related job postings have grown at an annual rate of 21% since 2019, with salaries rising by 11%. Still, the supply of skilled professionals hasn't kept pace. Bain projects that India's AI industry will generate 2.3 million jobs by 2027. However, the talent pool is estimated to reach just 1.2 million-leaving over a million positions to be filled through upskilling and training initiatives. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
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.
New Indian Express
25-04-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Top 5 IT firms cumulatively add over 11k employees in FY25
BENGALURU: The country's top 5 IT firms have cumulatively added 11,278 employees in financial year 2025 (FY25) compared to a net reduction of over 69,000 employees in the last fiscal. The top two firms- TCS and Infosys alone have added 6,433 and 6,338 employees, respectively. While HCLTech and Wipro saw a decline of 4,061 and 708 employees in FY25, Tech Mahindra added 3,276 employees in FY25. In FY24, TCS, Infosys and Wipro together saw a decline of 63,759 employees. HCLTech alone added 1,537 employees in FY24 and Tech Mahindra saw a reduction of 6,945 employees. 'Despite ongoing global uncertainties, FY25 has marked a recovery phase for major Indian IT firms, following the historic headcount decline of FY24. However, hiring remained measured in Q4, reflecting continued caution in client spending and persistent macroeconomic headwinds. Attrition rates have stabilized across the industry at an average of 13–15%, indicating a more balanced yet evolving talent landscape," said Sachin Alug, CEO, NLB Services. While some IT majors have deferred wage hikes this year due to pricing pressures and shifting client priorities, hiring in niche and emerging tech domains remains active, both in India and globally. Several firms have also announced plans to on-board over 10,000 freshers in FY26—signalling long-term confidence despite short-term challenges, he added. As far as fresher hiring is concerned, TCS onboarded 42,000 trainees in FY25 and this financial year will also see similar numbers or a little higher. Infosys said it will hire over 20,000 freshers in FY26. In FY25, Wipro onboarded about 10,000 freshers and the company did not specify hiring guidance in the current fiscal. Ramachandran Sundararajan, Chief People Officer, HCLTech, said fresher hiring will be made on a quarter-on-quarter basis and that it will hire 2,000 to 3,000 freshers every quarter in FY26. Sunil Nehra, CEO - IT Staffing, FirstMeridian Business Services said investments towards AI/ML, cloud computing, data engineering, automation etc. have been steady which signal a long-term confidence in emerging technologies. "This steady demand for new age technologies has influenced hiring trends. As it is estimated that the IT hiring industry will grow by 7-10% in the first half of 2025, i.e. 4-4.5 lakh new jobs, hiring in multiple regions of India will experience a gradual upward momentum," he said. He added that the sentiment on fresher hiring in FY26 remains positive which indicates strong demand for entry level roles. "With India's young talent showing impressive niche skill sets in emerging technologies, companies are turning towards investing in upskilling programs which bridge the gap between specialised skills and building a robust pipeline of talent for future growth. With IT hiring, the focus has transformed to creating high-impact and resilient teams who can work in tandem with the demands of the industry," he added.
New Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
HCL Tech Q4 net up 8% at Rs 4,307 crore; revenues up 6% y-o-y
BENGALURU: IT services firm HCL Tech on Tuesday reported an 8% increase in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2025 at Rs 4,307 crore. It had posted Rs 3,986 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenues in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 30,246 crore, a 6.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase. The company's EBIT was at Rs 5,442 crore, up 8.4% y-o-y. Speaking at the company's post-earnings press conference, C Vijayakumar, CEO & Managing Director, HCL Tech said, while there's uncertainty and it is going to be definitely a deterioration in the discretionary spend, we think AI-led efficiency is really the biggest theme where there can be large opportunities. He added that the firm has not seen any impact from tariffs yet. But the CEO further said that in terms of impact, "We see this play out much faster in consumer and manufacturing segments, but if the tariff impact were to play out, I don't think any vertical will be left behind as all industries would get impacted." The company expects revenue growth to be between 2.0% and 5.0% y-o-y in FY26 and EBIT margin to be between 18.0% and 19.0%. "We grew the fastest among our peers for the second year in a row as we witnessed yet another year of disciplined execution. We delivered on our FY25 guidance with revenue growth of 4.7% in constant currency and EBIT margin of 18.3%. HCL Software growth continues to accelerate as it grew 3.5% CC this year. During this quarter, our services business delivered healthy growth of 0.7% QoQ CC amidst volatile market conditions," the CEO said. The company saw new bookings of $3 billion this quarter. "The strength of our execution should present us good medium-term opportunities emerging out of global uncertainties while we navigate the short-term cautiously," he added. The company's total employee headcount stood at 2,23,420 in FY25, which is net reduction of 4,061 employees compared to the previous fiscal. It added 1,805 freshers in the fourth quarter. Ramachandran Sundararajan, Chief People Officer, HCLTech, said fresher hiring will be made on a quarter-on-quarter basis and that the numbers would be higher than FY25. Commenting on the IT firm's results, Biswajit Maity, Sr Principal Analyst at Gartner said cautious client spending, particularly in North America and Europe, continued to weigh on overall demand. However, the company showed resilience through stable margins and prudent fiscal management. "Its long-term strategy remains anchored in AI and digital transformation, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes backed by contractual commitments. Attrition rose slightly to 13% during the quarter, a trend that requires close attention to ensure consistent service quality," he added.
