Infosys — which employs over two lakh people in India— is preparing to hire 55,000 freshers by the end of the financial year 2023. This will likely take the total headcount of the Indian multinational to over three lakh.
Hiring people in such big numbers cannot be done smoothly without a structured and process-driven hiring strategy in place.
Krish Shankar, group head – HR, Infosys, shares with HRKatha some exclusive insights into Infosys’ talent-acquisition strategy.
While hiring freshers, Infosys follows two paths. One is the old way — hiring directly from campuses. However, as per Shankar, this has changed over the years. For a while now, instead of going to the campuses, the Company has formulated an entrance test called InfyTQ.
After taking this examination, the students who make the cut move to the next round of interviews. As there is no eligibility criteria for taking InfyTQ, Shankar says that even some of the 12th pass students from a computer science background sit for this exam.
Through InfyTQ, the Company manages to hire suitable talent for system engineer and specialist roles. To hire power programmers, Infosys visits the top-notch tech institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS).
Ever since the pandemic struck, this examination has been taking place virtually.
After the written rounds are cleared, the candidates are interviewed for behavioural assessment and then assigned their respective roles.
With InfyTQ, candidates are evaluated on their coding skills, on languages such as Java or Python.
“Technology is a big part of the hiring process at Infosys now”
Krish Shankar, group head – HR, Infosys
“Things have changed and InfyTQ has reduced our time spent on interviews,” admits Shankar.
After being selected from the campuses or clearing the InfyTQ assessments, the candidates are made to undergo an internal skilling programme. This programme comprises three months of general upskilling and another three months of training in specific areas as per the roles the new hires will move into.
Although Infosys has a training centre in Mysore, all training has become digital ever since the pandemic. In fact, the Company has developed its own learning-management system called Lex, using which people can upskill themselves from time to time.
“We keep encouraging employees to learn something new every three months, to stay relevant,” tells Shankar.
Infosys has implemented such skilling processes because often freshers are found to lack valuable skills such as Python, in which they require training. Besides, such training is essential for those freshers who do not come from a computer science background.
For existing employees, Infosys offers the Bridge Programme, where software engineers have the option to move into a consulting role. Employees’ skills are assessed and then they are accordingly moved to consulting roles, as per the demand.
Technology in hiring
Shankar reveals that Infosys uses AI-based technology to shortlist resumes. All interviews are scheduled in an automated manner with the candidates. The Company has also implemented ‘Launchpad’, a paperless onboarding platform. With its own platform for interviewing people also in place, “Technology is a big part of the hiring process at Infosys now,” declares Shankar.
At a time when most companies are fighting it out in the tech talent market, Shankar says that Infosys has been able to attract the best of talent. Some of the things that differentiate Infosys from other organisations are as follows:
1. Skilling/training: The Company offers a significant amount of skilling and training to help employees reach a certain level and also creates a well-defined path for them. As Shankar rightly says, “We are one of the few companies that focus on training and skilling people”.
2. Purpose/ meaning: It provides meaningful roles offering the employees a purpose, which creates an impact.
3. Culture: It offers a strong culture. “The managers and team leaders at Infosys are known for creating the best of teams,” says Shankar proudly.
“Money cannot drive people to work. In the long run, only a strong culture can attract the best talent,” says Shankar.