HCL Tech to double headcount in nearshore locations in 3-5 yrs: CEO

IT services company HCL Tech plans to double its headcount in nearshore locations over the next 3-5 years, CEO C Vijayakumar said and asserted that the Russia-Ukraine war has not impacted demand from Europe.

HCL Tech employs about 10,000 people in all its nearshore locations, globally.

"We expect that number to double over the next 3-5 years," Vijayakumar told PTI.

The company operates from 20 nearshore locations including Mexico, Toronto, Vancouver, Costa Rica and Romania. HCL Tech's top honcho said the company will continue to expand in these locations.

The company does not have any presence in Russia or Ukraine. Its Eastern European centres are in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and "all of them are continuing to operate at similar capacity levels".

"Whatever ongoing ramp-up plans in these locations, they are on track and these locations are also growing for us," he said.

Demand from Europe remains "quite robust", he said, adding that the company has not seen Russia-Ukraine conflict impacting demand.

On the blueprint for expansion and new centres for FY23, Vijayakumar said some of the HCL's existing locations may expand.

"It's not completely new locations, some of our existing locations may expand, like Vietnam, Romania, Costa Rica, Mexico and a few centres within the US... these are the locations where we will expand," he said.

HCL Technologies had recently reported over three fold jump in its consolidated net profit for fourth quarter ended March 2022 at Rs 3593 crore.

It had struck an optimistic note about "buoyant" market environment and "strong momentum across verticals and service lines" for 12-14 per cent revenue growth for FY23.

HCLT's revenue from operations for the just ended March quarter came in at Rs 22,597 crore, 15 per cent higher than a year ago. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, the net income stood at Rs 13,499 crore, as against Rs 11,145 crore in the previous fiscal.

The revenue from operations for the entire fiscal up to March 31, 2022 was Rs 85,651 crore, up from Rs 75,379 crore in FY21.

Telecom, financial services, life sciences and healthcare will be key growth drivers for the company in the incremental revenue that will come this fiscal. The company is looking to hire 35,000-40,000 freshers this year, apart from lateral hiring, which will depend on demand, attrition and other factors, Vijayakumar said.