India’s four largest IT services companies ended the September quarter with markedly different workforce movements, revealing a mixed hiring picture rather than a uniform recovery across the sector. HCLTech led net additions with 6,450 employees, Infosys followed with 4,480, TCS continued to expand its workforce, while Wipro recorded a reduction of 6,716 employees.
The contrast is particularly visible in the pace and composition of workforce changes. HCLTech’s latest additions followed a decline in the previous quarter and were driven largely by fresher recruitment. Infosys combined headcount growth with falling attrition, while Wipro’s employee numbers contracted even as its reported voluntary attrition rate edged down. TCS, meanwhile, continued to add employees and stepped up workforce learning.
HCLTech’s September-quarter performance marked a reversal from the June quarter, when its headcount had fallen by 3,292. The company ended September with 2,30,339 employees, including 6,136 freshers recruited during the quarter, compared with 1,056 in the preceding three months. The fresher intake accounted for almost all its net workforce addition, highlighting the role of entry-level recruitment in its expansion. Its trailing 12-month attrition rate rose marginally to 12.8 per cent from 12.7 per cent in June.
Infosys added 4,480 employees to reach 3,32,542 at the end of September. Its workforce stood at 3,28,062 in June and 3,31,991 a year earlier. More notably, voluntary attrition continued to ease, falling to 12.7 per cent from 13 per cent in the previous quarter and 14.3 per cent a year earlier. This means the company’s workforce expansion coincided with a larger proportion of employees staying on, although the figures alone do not establish what drove the change.
Wipro presented a contrasting picture. Its headcount fell by 6,716 sequentially to 2,36,328, a decline of approximately 2.8 per cent. Despite the quarterly decline, Wipro’s headcount was marginally higher than a year earlier, increasing by 836 employees from September 2025. Its reported voluntary attrition rate slipped to 13.8 per cent from 13.9 per cent in June. The combination of lower headcount and slightly lower attrition illustrates why workforce reductions should not automatically be interpreted as a rise in employees choosing to leave; the figures do not disclose the specific factors behind the decline.
TCS retained the largest workforce among the four, with 5,98,056 employees at the end of September, up by 4,258 from June. Its latest results also showed a 17 per cent sequential increase in employee learning hours to 17.1 million, while trailing 12-month IT services attrition remained stable at 13.3 per cent. The company said it continued to focus on upskilling and hiring for critical skills.
Taken together, the numbers point to distinct workforce priorities among the IT majors. HCLTech’s fresher intake stands out, Infosys is growing while attrition declines, TCS is pairing workforce expansion with increased learning, and Wipro has reduced its employee base on a sequential basis. These movements offer a more nuanced view of hiring than headcount alone, particularly as companies balance talent requirements, retention and operational efficiency.
The attrition figures should, however, be read with caution. Companies use different reporting definitions, and HCLTech’s measure excludes involuntary attrition and digital process operations. The quarterly disclosures therefore provide a snapshot of workforce movement, rather than a directly comparable ranking of employee retention across the sector.
