employees TCS, Infosys and HCLTech added in July to September 2026

TCS, Infosys and HCLTech hired faster than revenue grew

Companies No. 106 30 October 2026 · 1 min read · By Pranami Hayaran

In July to September 2026, TCS, Infosys and HCLTech added 15,188 employees between them. At all 3, staff grew faster than revenue. Isn't AI supposed to help IT firms do more with fewer people?

The answer lies partly in how these firms work. They build and maintain software, and need engineers to do it. But hiring also depends on how many people leave, how busy existing staff are, and how long new hires take to train.

Infosys's finance chief said around 45,000 employees leave each year and need replacing. Its engineers were already 85.4% utilised in September, up from 83% in March. New graduates also take 6 to 8 months to train, so hiring must begin before new work arrives.

The full-year numbers tell a different story. Infosys had only 551 more employees than a year ago, while revenue grew 1.5% in constant currency. Both Infosys and TCS had cut thousands of jobs before hiring again. Wipro cut 6,716 employees as revenue stayed flat, while HCLTech added 6,450, partly through 2 acquisitions.

So this isn't clear proof that AI has failed to reduce hiring. It may simply mean that after cutting staff, firms had to hire again to replace departures and prepare for new work.

Paired bars for TCS, Infosys, HCLTech and Wipro: staff grew 0.7%, 1.4% and 2.9% at the first 3 and fell 2.8% at Wipro in the quarter, while revenue in constant currency grew 0.5%, 1.2%, 2.3% and 0.0%.

4 lines from September 2025 to September 2026, all starting at 100: TCS falls to about 98 in December and climbs to about 101, Infosys rises, falls to about 99 by June and recovers to 100, HCLTech dips in June and ends near 102, Wipro rises to about 103 and drops back to 100 in September.

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