TCS to hire 37,000 engineers in 2011-12

Gives offer letters to 23,696 students; may cross 200,000 headcount by year-end

The country’s largest information technology services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), today said it will hire 37,000 engineers from campuses for 2011-12, 13,000 more than this financial year. For 2010-11, TCS had made 24,000 campus offers.

The company has already crossed its hiring target of 50,000 employees for 2010-11 and will be adding 12,000-15,000 employees in the fourth quarter of this financial year.

“For the next financial year, we have decided to hire 37,000 from campuses. Of this, we have already given offers to 23,696 students. These trainees will join TCS towards the end of the first quarter of 2011-12,” said Ajoy Mukherjee, vice-president, head, global human resources, TCS. The company visited 171 educational institutions.

If the company manages to add 15,000 people by the end of this quarter, it will have a headcount of more than 200,000. At the end of the third quarter, TCS had a headcount of 186,914.

Mukherjee also said the company was reviving its promotion policy for senior management. “Last quarter, we had announced that for junior employees, promotions will happen on a quarterly basis. And we can see the impact of this decision, as the attrition rate in this segment has come down. Staring from this January, we will start the senior promotions twice a year,” said Mukherjee.

TCS used to have two cycles of promotion at the senior level, but stopped the practice when recession set in. In 2009, it did not give any promotion. Last year, TCS gave senior management promotion, but it was only once a year. “Now, we will again have two cycles of promotion at the senior level — one in January and then in June,” he said.

He also said the company was working on salary rise details and would announce it in April. “It is difficult to share the average hike that we will announce. We are still working on the details. But they will kick in from April onwards.” Last year, TCS had given an average salary hike of 10 per cent.

With a sudden change in the demand scenario, TCS’ hiring mix has also changed. The company that preferred to have a higher percentage of campus (trainee) hiring, saw its lateral hiring increasing during this financial year. Traditionally, TCS keeps a hiring mix of 60:40 for freshers and laterals (experienced), respectively. But for 2011-11, the company has a hiring ratio of 54:46 for laterals and freshers, respectively.

“If you look at the current quarter, we have hired more laterals than trainees. It was also because of the demand that we saw coming. For the next fiscal, we would like to keep the mix to 50:50, but it all depends on the business environment,” he said.

Mukherjee said with a changing global scenario, the company was also taking a closer look at certain geographies. “The new rules in the UK say onsite employees cannot stay for more than a year. If they do, then their salaries will have to increase. TCS has a rotation policy. We follow a 18-month time period. Now, we might have to bring it down to 12 months. But it will depend on the profile of the employee and other parameters.”