Top 6 Indian IT firms' tech headcount falls 24,422 in a year

Exits outpaced hiring at the biggest IT employers

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCL Technologies (HCLTech), Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree together employed 797,722 people in their IT and engineering functions in October 2026, down from 822,144 a year earlier, according to Xpheno data cited by The Economic Times. That is a fall of 24,422 people, or nearly 3%.

The six companies saw about 92,000 exits over the twelve months, which The Economic Times says is in line with the industry's usual attrition rate of 11-15%. New intake in these functions was only about 68,000, and exits were higher than hiring in five of the last six months. "Annual attrition has remained at 11-15%, but companies haven't necessarily refilled attrited seats," Xpheno chief executive Francis Padamadan told the newspaper.

Which roles are under pressure

Neeti Sharma, chief executive of TeamLease Digital, told The Economic Times that replacement hiring is weakest for professionals with five to twelve years of experience in application maintenance, manual testing, infrastructure support and first- and second-line support, roles where she said AI is reducing the need for routine work. She added that demand for AI, cloud, cybersecurity and specialised engineering roles is rising by about 16% year on year, even as overall IT hiring has fallen 3%.

Padamadan cautioned against blaming the drop entirely on AI, pointing also to challenges in key client markets and a changing skills mix. Pareekh Jain, chief executive of research firm EIIRTrend, said last year's cuts were mostly bench reductions and called the decline temporary, saying a hiring recovery depends on when industry growth returns.

Signs of a turn

The same report notes that some firms are adding people again. In the July-September quarter, TCS added 4,258 employees, HCLTech 6,450 and Tech Mahindra 5,446, while Wipro cut 6,716. Infosys, also one of the six, had not yet published its September-quarter results when the report appeared; Business Standard said they were due on 23 October.

Why it matters for job seekers

The squeeze is concentrated in routine work, so the roles you target and the way you describe your skills matter more than before.

• If you work in maintenance, manual testing or support, consider adding one skill from the growing areas, such as cloud, cybersecurity or AI tooling, and show it in a real project.
• Update your resume for the roles that are growing: put measurable outcomes and specialised skills near the top, since replacement hiring for generalist roles is slow.
• Watch the quarterly numbers: compare headcount and fresher additions in each company's results before deciding where to apply.
• Be ready to explain how you work with AI tools, because employers are mixing upskilling with AI deployment, according to Xpheno.

Audience note: India. The data covers the IT and engineering functions of the six largest Indian IT services companies.