TCS plans to raise headcount by 30,500
The Hindu Business Line — June 12, 2006

TCS is planning to add 30,500 people to its rolls in the current fiscal. This is about 10,000 more than the numbers recruited last fiscal. For the estimated requirement, the company is planning to make campus offers to 12,000 candidates from about 200 institutions across the country, according to Mr S. Padmanabhan, Executive Vice-President of Global HR. He added that 9,200 campus offers for the current year had already been made and that the company would continue its aggressive drive.

A challenge

"Hiring is a challenge. We have covered many institutions in the Tier I and Tier II cities." The HR team is currently in Coimbatore to pick candidates off campus. TCS recruited around 800 students from campuses in and around Coimbatore last year. The company is offering a 10 per cent increase in the salary levels compared to the offers made in 2005-06. "The existing employees, however, got a 15 per cent jump." Though the rising salary levels result in higher employee cost, "compensation is a critical aspect."

Mr Padmanabhan said that to tide over this issue, the company is striving to increase operational efficiency and productivity by using tools and technology and reusables. Growing at 35 per cent year-on-year, TCS focuses on recruiting more people (to meet the demand supply requirement) and at increasingly diversifying this talent pool. According to Mr Padmanabhan, the company's attrition rate was the lowest in the industry at 9.9 per cent.

The company has also instituted women-friendly policies such as working from home, flexible timing, etc., which have been received well. Women accounted for about 24 per cent of the total workforce, against 22 per cent in 2004-05. TCS's investment in human/knowledge infrastructure is 3-5 per cent of its revenues. "We have created a learning environment with a portfolio of 5,000 learning titles. The company bears the employee certification cost. We also sponsor people. We empower employees at all levels and maintain a well-structured reward and recognition mechanism. Employee engagement is our key focus."

He said that TCS enabled its employees to meet their career objectives through rotation across projects, functions, and locations globally.