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India's USD 280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed USD 100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing. The US remains the sector's largest export market. The visa proposals triggered market volatility in late 2025, disrupting travel plans and denting IT stocks, before partial clarifications offered limited relief. Fresh concerns have since emerged around social media screening and unpredictable processing delays. Analysts warn that sharply higher visa costs could add hundreds of millions of dollars to expenses for large IT firms, reinforcing the shift toward ...
Facing social media backlash over the Rs 2.52 lakh annual salary offer for freshers, IT giant Cognizant on Sunday said it offers Rs 4-12 lakh salary to fresh engineering graduates, and the salary being quoted on social media is for non-engineering undergraduate degree holders. The firm also faced social media ridicule for doling out annual salary hikes of as low as 1 per cent, but what is being quoted is the lower band of the 1-5 per cent annual increments that the firm has dished out based on individual performance. Cognizant annually hires fresh engineers and non-engineering/IT graduates for varied roles. With the two recruitments running almost parallel, hiring for three-year non-engineering/information technology undergraduate degree holders picked up and was widely shared as Cognizant's salary package for freshers. "Our recent job posting for talent from non-engineering backgrounds, with a 3-year undergraduate degree has been grossly misrepresented. This job posting, with ...
The proportion of new deal wins into revenues is "intact", a senior official at largest IT services company TCS has said, attributing the sluggish revenue growth to the adverse impact on discretionary demand because of economic headwinds. Stating that discretionary demand can contribute as much as 30 per cent of incremental revenues in a quarter, the company's chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramniam told PTI that the September quarter results were impacted due to this aspect. Clients are choosing to conserve cash given the economic climate and choosing to defer spends where they do not see immediate returns on investments, which has impacted the discretionary demand, he said. He, however, said that the proportion of revenue it bags from new deals has not been affected. The company has reported signings of over USD 10 billion for three consecutive quarters. "TCV (total contract value) to revenue conversion rate is intact," Subramaniam said, explaining that there are a slew of
Weak global cues and a cut in discretionary spending by clients are expected to sharply reduce campus intake by the Indian IT industry this year with market watchers saying that Infosys and HCL Tech's subdued take on hiring signals a tough road ahead for freshers in the near term. In the opening week of Q2 earnings season, IT biggies TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies reported a sequential drop in employee tally - a staggering 15,800 on a cumulative basis. The Q2 scorecard of tech heavyweights fell short of expectations as global growth skid on elevated levels of inflation and interest rates, reduced investment, and geopolitical shocks, exacerbating worries. Tech companies say that clients continue to defer newer, non-critical initiatives, choosing to focus on optimisation. While global voices concede that there are no signs of bottoming out just yet, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon has warned that the world is facing the 'most dangerous time in decades'. Meanwhile, Infosys's headcount fell