Tata Consultancy Services announced its April to June results on 9 July. Revenue came in at Rs 72,275 crore, up 13.9% from the same quarter last year. But the numbers that matter to working professionals sit elsewhere.
TCS added 9,279 people this quarter. Its headcount rose from 584,519 in March to 593,798 in June, the strongest quarterly rise since the company began shrinking its workforce last year. Hiring is back.
There is a catch. TCS still employs 19,271 fewer people than it did at its peak a year ago. India's largest private-sector employer of professionals is hiring again, but into a smaller company than the one that existed twelve months ago.
One more number is worth knowing. TCS's spending on external consultants has risen for five quarters in a row. It stood at Rs 2,999 crore a year ago. It is Rs 4,293 crore now, a jump of around 43%. Salaries for its own employees grew about 12% in the same period. TCS does not explain what this spending covers, but a company paying more and more to people outside its payroll, while its own workforce stays smaller, is a shift worth watching.
Two other details from the quarter: attrition in IT services stood at 13.6%, and TCS said it has completed annual increments for all employees, with salary structures aligned to the new India Labour Code.
The signal for professionals in and around IT is mixed. The hiring freeze is thawing. But the shape of employment at India's biggest IT company is quietly changing.
