Days after lifting its curbs on lateral hiring, Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has plans to hire 40,000 freshers this year through campus hiring—the same number as last year despite financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 impact on the IT sector.
“Our key strategy for building from the bottom doesn’t change. The 40,000 (in India) might become 35,0000 or 45,000—that’s a tactical call we will make,” TCS EVP and global HR head Milind Lakkad told Times of India.
The company also plans to double its campus hiring in the United States to around 2,000, as it aims to reduce its dependence on H-1B visa-holders, at a time when the Trump administration has suspended the issuance of new H-1B visas.
Days ago, the company announced that its Q1 net profit had fallen by 14 per cent to Rs 7,008 crore, with MD and CEO Rajesh Gopinathan saying that the revenue impact should have bottomed out by now, with a gradual recovery expected over the next 2-3 quarters.
The announcement of hiring-as-usual comes at a tough time for the IT sector, with a drop in revenue expected across the board.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown drove the national unemployment rate to 23.48 per cent in May, according to data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), with the rate dropping to 11 per cent in June as the workforce gradually returns.
