TCS Vs Infosys Vs HCL Tech Vs Wipro: Attrition Rate To Headcount Ratio—Employee Metrics At A Glance

TCS Vs Infosys Vs HCL Tech Vs Wipro: India's top four biggest information technology (IT) services companies have announced their April-June quarter results for fiscal 2025-26 (Q1FY26), reporting their attrition rates and current standing total employee headcount ratios. The employee metrics also include management's commentary on wage hikes and hiring plans by the IT majors in the coming quarters of FY26.

Amid the current global headwinds arising from US tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty, Indian IT companies—which receive a major portion of their revenues from the US, have reported subdued performance in the last few quarters, dragged by softer demand and supply volumes. This has also impacted the fresher hiring plans and salary hikes for employees in these companies.

In terms of the 12-month voluntary attrition rate reported by the big four IT giants, HCL Technologies is the only firm which reported a flat attrition rate in the June quarter of FY26, compared to the preceding March quarter of FY25. The remaining three companies reported a rise in their attrition rates.

The attrition rate measures the rate at which employees leave a company over a period of time. A lower rate is generally considered healthy for a company. In terms of total headcount, Wipro is the only company which reported a drop in the workforce when compared to the quarter ended March 31. The remaining three firms reported a rise in the total headcount.

India's largest IT services giant added net 6,071 employees which took its total headcount to 6,13,069 in Q1FY26, up from 607,979 in Q4 FY25. On a sequential basis, the workforce grew by 5,090 from the preceding March quarter's count. TCS reported that its attrition rate neared a two-year high to 13.8% compared to 13.3% in the preceding fourth quarter of FY25.

TCS plans to hire freshers in FY26 remains in place. During the earnings press conference of Q1FY26, TCS Chief Human Resource Officer Milind Lakkad said that the company is hiring 42,000 freshers this fiscal year, in syn with the hirings made in the last fiscal year.

Coming to salary hikes, Lakkad said that TCS has not finalised any plans for a salary hike for employees this year. “We have not made a decision on that front yet and we will decide during the year, and as soon as we know, we'll let you know," he said.

However, TCS Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Samir Seksaria told PTI that delivering wage hikes for its employees remains a 'priority' for TCS. TCS deferred its annual wage hikes that typically set in from April. Stating that TCS has "rarely" resorted to deferring hikes unlike peers, Seksaria said, 'My priority is getting back to the wage hike.' He, however, did not specify when the hikes will be delivered.

India's second-largest information technology (IT) services giant's total headcount stood at 3.23 lakh employees in the June quarter, while the attrition rate to 14.4%, compared to 14.1% in the preceding March quarter of FY25. The total employee headcount rose by 210 to 323,788 employees in Q1FY26 compared to the March quarter, when the count was 323,578.

In the Q1FY26 earnings conference call with analysts and investors, Infosys management confirmed that it has not yet decided on the next wage hike. The software services hiring plans for FY26 remains on track. Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka had announced in April that the firm plans to hire more than 20,000 freshers in FY26.

HCL Technologies Ltd. reported an attrition rate of 12.8% for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal. The attrition figure was on par with 12.8% in the year-ago period and 13% in the preceding quarter of fiscal 2025. The IT major's net addition of employees stood at 269 during the June quarter.

HCL Tech added 1,984 freshers during the quarter, bringing the total headcount to 2.23 lakh. The IT firm had added 1,078 freshers in the year ago period, and 1,805 in the previous quarter. There is no confirmation on salary hikes of employees by the HCL Tech management's during the quarter-under-review.

India's fourth-largest IT major's total headcount stood at 2.33 employees in the June quarter. Wipro reported a marginal rise in attrition rate to 15.1%, compared to 15% in the preceding March quarter of FY25 and 14.1% in the year-ago period. The total employee headcount dropped by 114 to 2,33,232 employees in Q1FY26 compared to the March quarter. Wipro did not give any major update regarding salary hikes.