Indian IT companies Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra reported a significant drop in the average training hours per employee for fiscal 2024 compared to the previous year, ToI reported. This decline is primarily attributed to lower hiring of new employees and a shift towards just-in-time hiring amid lower customer spend and sluggish demand. Infosys saw its average training hours per employee drop sharply from 130 in fiscal 2023 to 74.6 in fiscal 2024. Similarly, Tech Mahindra saw a decline from 56 hours to 49 hours during the same period. Wipro also reported a reduction in total training hours, which fell from 16 million in fiscal 2023 to 12.9 million in fiscal 2024.
Industry analysts suggest that the main reasons for this reduction are lower new hires and just-in-time hiring approach. With many clients cutting back on discretionary spending, Indian IT companies have been gradually inducting newcomers into positions that were promised to them in the previous fiscal, while making only modest additions to their total headcount.
TCS, which hired 40,000 fresh graduates, significantly increased its training hours to 87 hours per employee in fiscal 2024, up from 40 hours in the previous fiscal year. Fresh graduates typically receive extensive training upon joining and companies count both online and offline training modules completed by employees when calculating total training hours.
An email sent to TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL remained unanswered at the time of publication as these companies are currently in a lull.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic in 2021, the Indian tech sector added 130,000 employees, taking its total base to 4.4 million. However, the net addition of 60,000 employees in the recent period pales in comparison to the hiring frenzy of FY22, when 450,000 new employees were added — the highest addition in a single year. By FY24, the combined headcount of Infosys, Wipro and TCS had shrunk by nearly 64,000 employees.
Richard Lobo, chief people officer at Tech Mahindra, said the decrease in training hours is temporary and the company expects an increase in employee training as it focuses on cost optimization.
“Overall, training hours have decreased because workloads are lower and staffing remains limited. This has led to a focus on billable hours and short-term revenue, rather than long-term training,” said Ray Wang, founder of IT consultancy Constellation Research.
Ray Wang also highlighted that TCS is the only company that focuses on a long-term strategy rather than short-term profits.
(with ToI inputs)
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