Infosys' hiring dips by 65%; 37,915 techies exit the firm

A whopping 37,915 engineers left software major Infosys while its hiring plunged 65 per cent in financial year (FY) 2016-17 thanks to increasing automation and thrust on artificial intelligence in its operations and projects.

According to the employee metrics the outsourcing firm disclosed on Thursday, 37,915 left the company and its subsidiaries worldwide during the FY under review (FY 2017) as against 34,688 in the previous FY (2015-16).

Though the city-based company hired (gross addition) 44,235 techies in FY 2017 as against 52,545 in FY 2016, the exodus led to the net addition slump to 6,320 for the year as against 17,857 in the previous year, a whopping 65 per cent decline.

Net addition for the fourth quarter (Q) (January-March) was 601, while it was negative or minus 66 in the Q3 (October-December) and 661 in Q4 year ago.

Hiring of laterals (seniors with 10 or more years of experience) also declined to 18,979 in the FY under review (FY 2017) from 24,719 in FY 2016.

The company's total headcount for FY 2017 increased 6,320 to 200,364 from 194,044 in FY 2016.

As a result, attrition for the parent company (Infosys) increased to 15 per cent in FY 2017 from 13.6 per cent in FY 2016 on annualised basis.

On consolidated basis, annualised attrition of the parent company and its subsidiaries worldwide increased to 19.2 per cent in FY 2017 from 18.7 per cent in FY 2016.

"Attrition declined sequentially to 13.5 per cent in the fourth quarter from 14.9 per cent in the third quarter in the parent company, reflecting our focus on better employee engagement," said Chief Operating Officer (COO) U B Pravin Rao in a statement.

"Utilisation rate also reached 84 per cent, which is the higher in Q4 over the past several years," recalled Rao.

Consolidated attrition also declined to 17.1 per cent in Q4 from 18.4 per cent in Q3.