Wipro Shifts Focus Away From Campus Hiring

Wipro has reported a decline in headcount for six consecutive quarters as of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, marking its second consecutive year of reduced staffing. However, the IT services giant has no immediate plans to return to campus recruitment efforts.

According to Saurabh Govil, Wipro's Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), the company is still in the process of onboarding freshers who were offered positions during its hiring surge post-Covid.

With the demand environment remaining volatile, Wipro's focus is on enhancing operational efficiency by increasing utilisation rates and prioritising the deployment of idle employees.

Speaking at the company's Q4 earnings conference, Govil stated, "Campus hiring depends on demand, utilization, and timing. We have significantly improved our utilization rate this quarter, reaching an all-time high. Our goal is to further increase and sustain this rate. We have successfully reduced our bench strength and accelerated employee deployment."

Wipro's utilisation rate for Q4 reached 86.9 per cent, up from 84 per cent in the previous quarter.

While the attrition rate remained flat quarter-on-quarter at 14.2 per cent, it decreased significantly year-on-year from 19.4 per cent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Govil emphasised, "After experiencing high demand two years ago, we made numerous offers to campus recruits post-Covid. We are committed to honoring those offers before initiating further hiring. Our plan is to prioritize fulfilling existing commitments before considering additional recruitment."

"We will continue to onboard freshers this year, although the exact number depends on demand, given the ongoing uncertain macroeconomic environment," he added.

On an annual basis, Wipro's headcount decreased by 24,516 in FY24, marking the second consecutive year of full-year headcount reduction. The total headcount for FY24 was 2,34,054.

Like Wipro, Infosys has also scaled back its campus recruitment efforts, opting to recruit more than half of its freshers off campus.