Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services firm, hired 42,000 freshers in FY25, slightly exceeding its target of 40,000. The company is optimistic about maintaining similar numbers in FY26. However, despite the hiring momentum, TCS has decided to delay wage hikes due to the uncertain global business environment, including geopolitical factors like US tariffs under Donald Trump.
As of the end of FY25, TCS’s total employee count reached 607,979 — an increase of just 6,433 from the previous year. Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad, who is set to retire soon and be succeeded by Sudeep Kunnumal, shared insights in an interview with Private Sources.
Lakkad clarified that while wage hikes haven’t been canceled, TCS is closely watching the evolving economic situation and will make compensation decisions accordingly. This is only the second time such a move has been made since the COVID-19 pandemic.
On hiring, Lakkad emphasized that TCS prefers to hire freshers in advance, train them, and then deploy them in projects as needed, rather than linking hiring strictly to quarterly demand. Attrition and long-term planning play a key role in how the company manages workforce requirements.
Regarding artificial intelligence (AI), TCS is seeing increased adoption across development, testing, documentation, and customer support projects. While some fear that AI might reduce IT job opportunities, Lakkad believes AI is creating new kinds of work that weren’t previously viable, making some expensive and complex projects more feasible and scalable.
When asked about bench time (the duration employees wait for project allocation), he said managing bench strength is strategic — TCS tries to keep it balanced to ensure swift deployment without overstaffing.
Despite ongoing changes in US visa policies, TCS is not cutting on-site hiring. The company has a visa-agnostic model and continues hiring in multiple countries, including the US.
Lakkad also said the skill bar for freshers has gone up, with more emphasis on digital and AI capabilities. In FY25, 40% of new hires were digital-ready, up from 17% the year before. Even those without such skills receive thorough training after joining.
Looking ahead to FY26, Lakkad said the hiring strategy won’t drastically change, but TCS will keep refining the mix of campus and lateral hires, especially for niche, high-end tech skills. The company doesn’t chase specific headcount numbers — instead, it focuses on hiring quality talent and managing attrition to meet business needs.
