Tata group's listed companies see small increase in staff in FY24

TCS accounted for bulk of attrition at group level in FY24

This report has been updated The employee strength of the Tata group’s 23 listed companies increased marginally by 1.7 per cent to 826,474 in 2023-24 (FY24) over the previous financial year, according to the annual reports submitted by these companies.
 

The main reason for the drawdown is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Amid weak global demand and a dip in discretionary spend, Indian information-technology services companies have seen their headcount fall.
 

TCS has not filled all the vacancies created in the past few quarters.
 

Trent, the group’s retail arm, on the other hand, saw a 52 per cent expansion in its workforce. It increased its presence in more than 850 stores across the country.
 

According to the data submitted by the 23 listed companies to the stock exchanges, TCS, the largest employer in the group, saw its total employee strength fall to 601,546 in FY24 as compared to 614,795 in the previous financial year. The number in Tata Technologies increased 13.6 per cent to 12,500 in FY24 from 11,000 the previous year. Excluding TCS, which accounted for nearly 73 per cent of the employee count of these 23 companies, the employee base of the rest went up by 13.7 per cent to 224,928 (see chart).
 

In the June quarter results, after three straight quarters of headcount decline, TCS added more than 5,000 employees and hired 11,000 freshers, taking its workforce up to 606,998 as on June 30, 2024.
 

The group did not comment on the story.
 

Reliance Industries, India’s largest company by market value, saw its employee strength fall by 11 per cent, or by 42,000 employees, in FY24, according to its annual reports. Analysts, however, do not include Tata Sons, the group’s unlisted, holding company, which owns several businesses including Air India and Tata Electronics, which have significant employee strength. But as these companies are unlisted their employee numbers are not public yet.
 

The Tata group is investing around $120 billion in new ventures, including semiconductors and iPhone manufacturing. This is expected to increase hiring by unlisted companies and the group as a whole in the coming years.
 

The Tata group, however, performed better on other key financial metrics. The combined net debt of the listed companies, for example, was down by 4.4 per cent to Rs 1.76 trillion, while their net sales were up by 12.4 per cent to Rs 11.22 trillion. The net profit of these 23 companies was up 28 per cent to Rs 86,488 crore in FY24. In FY23, the net profit of these companies had declined by 10 per cent to Rs 67,571 crore after rising 155 per cent to Rs 75,113 crore in FY22.
 

The Budget 2024 launched an internship scheme that tries to incentivise job creation in the country’s existing top 500 firms by using a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget.

Under the scheme, interns will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000, along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000. The cost of training them will be covered by the companies through their CSR activities.

Participation in this scheme is voluntary for companies.

(With inputs from Sameer Mulgaonkar)