’We still have a hiring target, but…’: What Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said while announcing Q1 results

Infosys Ltd. announced its Q1 results on Thursday, noting that attrition numbers and the demand environment would shape hiring decisions for the rest of the year. 

“We still have a target for recruiting for this year...but we will see how that plays out with respect to the changes in terms of the demand environment and what we do in terms of the attrition numbers that we are seeing,” said Salil Parekh.

The company has however not announced any hiring targets at this time. 

“We've not given a target…we will look at that based on what the demand environment looks like and how we see the rest of the year playing out. The attrition that we saw in the quarter was stable versus last quarter. Last 12 months attrition is down to about 17%. So...we see that driving some of the decisions about recruitment,” Parekh added.

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India's second-largest IT services firm by revenue halved its full-year revenue forecast and cut its annual sales forecast on Thursday. Consolidated net profit rose 10.9% to ₹59.45 billion in the three months to June 30, missing estimates as clients cut back spending in a cloudy economic environment. The company however saw its large deal signings rise to $2.3 billion from $1.7 billion year ago.

“The way a lot of the transformation programmes that are running today, they are funded from cost efficiency that comes through that programme itself. So overall, the decision-making sometimes is slowing down. And we're seeing the start dates -- in terms of where some of these programmes are likely to start -- more towards the back end of the year, and that's the reason we're seeing the revenue impact through the year,” Parekh added.

India's IT services companies have kicked off the earnings season on a weaker note, with market leader Tata Consultancy Services warning of an uncertain demand environment, and smaller peers HCLTech and Wipro reporting and projecting muted growth.

(With inputs from agencies)