Synopsis TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad said the company, which employs over 6 lakh people, will be announcing hikes similar to earlier years. ETtech Over the next few quarters, the company does not see "significant additions" from a net employees standpoint, Lakkad said Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS ) is not considering any layoffs as it believes in grooming talent for longer careers once it hires an employee, its chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad told news agency PTI. The country's largest information technology services exporter is also looking to hire startup employees who have lost their jobs. Lakkad's comments come at a time when Big tech giants and other IT companies across the world are laying off people due to a slew of reasons. "We don't do that (layoffs), we believe in grooming talent in the company. . . (there will be) no layoffs," he said, when asked about layoffs or involuntary attrition. Lakkad said companies are forced to take such steps because they had hired more than they wanted while the TCS believes that once a staff member joins, it is the company's responsibility to make them productive and derive value. In cases where it finds a gap between the skill sets required and what an employee possesses, it focuses on training the employee by giving her more time, Lakkad added. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories He said the company, which employs over 6 lakh people, will be announcing hikes which will be similar to earlier years. Lakkad also said that the IT major will be looking to hire impacted workers who have been fired from startups, particularly those in sectors like education technology . "It is a very large canvas, we are doing exciting work across different industries in different technologies. I think all of that requires some phenomenal talent to come in and participate. we are getting it obviously from startups, people who have actually done some good work in those companies and have short-term career challenges," he said. TCs is specifically looking for talent in user experience design, artificial intelligence , many aspects of cloud and having product experience When asked if TCS will be reviewing its stock options schemes, given that startups attract a lot of talent based on such offers, Lakkad said it is continuing to evaluate on this aspect as it feels that both loyalty and performance play a significant role. To a question on whether the decline of over 2,000 staffers in overall employee count in the December quarter was a one-off, Lakkad declined to specify if the March quarter will have an addition or continue with a decline. He explained that over the last year, it has hired over 2 lakh people including 1. 19 lakh trainees, who are still getting into billable projects and hence, the slowdown in new hires resulted in the decline. Over the next few quarters, the company does not see "significant additions" from a net employees standpoint, Lakkad said, pointing out that it is leveraging its past investments now. This will lead to an increase in the overall utilisation number, before it starts going down as the over 40,000 trainees it expects to hire in FY24 start coming in, Lakkad said. The company is also open to hiring people of Indian diaspora in the US who have lost their jobs with the tech majors and May be on the brink of being forced to return home as per their visa conditions, Lakkad said. Currently, 70% of TCS' US employees are Americans, Lakkad said, adding it would like to get the number down to 50% because it also wants to offer global opportunities to its staff in India. He also said there is a need for quicker appointments and clearance for both business and H1 visas in the US, its largest market by revenue. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Sunday, 19 Feb, 2023 Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Read Complete Print Edition » Front Page Pure Politics Around The World Deep Dive More India Poised to be Global Contender in Telecom Tech India is set to emerge as a major telecom technology exporter with the development of the 4G and 5G stack, in which several countries have shown interest, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for communications, railways, electronics and information technology. On Track to Build 200k km of National Highways by 2025 India is building roads at a record rate and the country’s national highway network will rise 37% in the next two years, said Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways. India Part of Group Shaping Future of Tech India will be among nations that shape the future of products, devices and technologies, said minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Read More News on tcs layoffs layoffs tcs hiring startup employees startup layoffs tcs pay hikes education technology artificial intelligence TCS tcs milind lakkad tata consultancy services Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox. . . . more less ETPrime stories of the day Real Estate Interest rates are rising, so are rental yields. Is it the right time to invest in property? 8 mins read 3 insights to kick-start your day, featuring Swiggy’s “poor judgement” 3 mins read Strategy Stock Radar: Technical charts suggest HDFC Bank is likely to hit fresh record highs in next 3-6 months; time to buy? 3 mins read Subscribe to ETPrime.