Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services firm, has announced plans to hire 40,000 trainees in 2025 and continue its hiring spree in 2026. Milind Lakkad, Chief HR Officer of TCS, shared this optimistic outlook during an exclusive interview with a media organisation, revealing that TCS is on track to bring on board more than 40,000 fresh graduates next year.
“We see a very positive trend, and I am planning to do more than 40,000 next year,” Lakkad stated, signalling confidence in the firm’s recruitment strategy.
Despite the hiring plans, TCS reported a net reduction of 5,370 employees for the October to December 2024 quarter, marking a decline in headcount for the first time this financial year. This brought the company’s total workforce down to 607,354, from 612,724 employees in the previous quarter. In contrast, the first half of the year saw an addition of 11,178 employees.
Lakkad explained that the dip in numbers is not a cause for concern, pointing out that this is a seasonal adjustment. The company continues to remain focused on hiring in line with its long-term objectives.
In line with the reduction in workforce, TCS also witnessed a slight increase in attrition, which rose to 13% in Q3 FY25, compared to 12.3% in the prior quarter. Lakkad downplayed the rise, calling it a minor change, and expressed optimism that attrition rates would decrease in the coming quarters.
He explained, “Overall, I see a reduction in attrition in the coming quarters. LTM (last twelve months) numbers may show otherwise because of the way it is calculated,” indicating that the company was focused on future retention strategies.
Lakkad also addressed the issue of H-1B visas, following recent immigration data analysis showing that Indian-origin tech companies, including TCS and Infosys, accounted for a substantial share of U.S. H-1B visas. TCS and Infosys were two of the leading companies, with 5,274 and 8,140 H-1B beneficiaries, respectively. However, Lakkad noted that the company’s reliance on U.S. visas has reduced significantly in recent years.
“We have had a global operating model and a global workforce. We have been hiring people across all locations,” said Lakkad, emphasizing that TCS had diversified its hiring strategy beyond the U.S. market.
TCS CEO and Managing Director, K. Krithivasan, added that the company had shifted its staffing model to include more than 50% local workforce in the U.S., significantly decreasing its dependency on H-1B visas. This shift aligns with the company’s strategy to build a more global, locally integrated workforce.
An analysis of U.S. immigration data revealed that Indian-origin tech companies account for 20% of the total H-1B visas granted. Infosys led the way with 8,140 visa recipients, followed by TCS with 5,274, and HCL America with 2,953. Other companies like Cognizant, which originated in Chennai, and Amazon also feature prominently in the data.
Between April and September 2024, approximately 24,766 H-1B visas were issued to Indian-origin companies out of 130,000 total H-1B visas issued. Infosys ranked second overall for visa recipients, only behind Amazon Com Services LLC, which issued 9,265 visas.
On January 10, 2025, TCS share price closed up by 5.62% higher at ₹4,265.65, while the BSE benchmark Sensex ended down by 241.30 points to 77,378.91. L&T’s share price reached a 52-week high of ₹4,585.90 on September 02, 2024, and a 52-week low of ₹3,593.30 on June 04, 2025. As per BSE, the total traded volume for the stock stood at 2.21 lakh shares with a turnover of ₹93.84 crore.
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Published on: Jan 10, 2025, 6:05 PM IST
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