HCLTech added 6,450 employees on a net basis in the September quarter, its highest quarterly addition in 16 quarters, taking its total headcount to a record 230,339 as of September 30.
The increase marks a sharp turnaround after the IT major reported a net reduction of 3,292 employees in the June quarter.
The September-quarter addition followed a mixed trend in employee numbers over the preceding four quarters. Headcount stood at 226,640 at the end of September 2025, slipped to 226,379 in December, and rose to 227,181 in March 2026 before falling to 223,889 in June.
The latest quarter’s addition of 6,450 employees took the workforce past the previous levels to a new high. Freshers accounted for 6,136 of the additions, compared with 1,056 in the June quarter and 1,712 in the March quarter.
The increase in headcount was accompanied by a marginal rise in attrition. HCLTech’s last-twelve-month attrition rate stood at 12.8% in September, compared with 12.7% in June and 12.5% in March.
The share of women in the workforce also increased, reaching 30% at the end of September, up from 29.6% in the previous two quarters.
|
Quarter ended |
Total employees |
Net addition |
Freshers added |
LTM attrition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
September 2025 |
226,640 |
3,489 |
5,196 |
12.6% |
|
December 2025 |
226,379 |
-261 |
2,852 |
12.4% |
|
March 2026 |
227,181 |
802 |
1,712 |
12.5% |
|
June 2026 |
223,889 |
-3,292 |
1,056 |
12.7% |
|
September 2026 |
230,339 |
6,450 |
6,136 |
12.8% |
| HCLTech Q2 Investor Presentation | ||||
HCLTech said its annual wage hikes will be effective from October 1.
The workforce expansion came alongside a rise in quarterly profit. HCLTech reported a net profit of ₹5,132 crore for the September quarter, up 11% sequentially from ₹4,624 crore. Revenue rose 3% to ₹35,620 crore from ₹34,579 crore, although it fell short of the poll estimate of ₹35,819 crore.
The company also revised the lower end of its FY27 constant-currency revenue growth guidance upwards to 2.5% from 1%, while retaining the upper end at 4%. Its board recommended an interim dividend of ₹12 per share for FY26-27.
HCLTech’s hiring expansion comes after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a net addition of 4,258 employees in the September quarter, taking its workforce to 598,056, its highest level in five quarters.
TCS had added 9,279 employees in the June quarter, following a net addition of 2,356 in the March quarter. The September-quarter increase marked the third consecutive quarter of net hiring at India’s largest IT services company.
However, TCS employee costs declined sequentially, with the company attributing the moderation to lower performance-linked bonus payouts. Its last-twelve-month attrition rate for IT services eased to 13.3% from 13.6% in the previous quarter.
Innovation and employee productivity
HCLTech also reported activity across its innovation initiatives during the quarter. More than 19,660 employees used its Value Creation Portal, contributing to over 5,600 approved ideas and more than 1,900 implemented ideas. These initiatives generated $318 million in customer-approved value.
The company also filed 38 patent applications and received 21 patents during the period.
Revenue per employee, calculated using last-twelve-month revenue and the average period-end headcount over the last five quarters, stood at $65,400 annually in September, compared with $65,500 in June. Research and development expenditure rose to 1.9% of revenue from 1.6% in the previous quarter.