Job applications at Infosys Ltd have fallen to pre-covid levels, while job offers handed out to candidates have dipped below pandemic levels. Experts attribute this phenomenon to low hiring requirements by information technology (IT) services companies, a hangover of bulk hiring during the pandemic, and the allure of global capability centres (GCCs).

A fall in the number of applications and jobs offered at Infosys throws up questions on whether the Bengaluru-based software outsourcing company is still the employer of choice for those seeking jobs at large IT services firms.

According to the company’s annual report, Infosys received 2.44 million applications as of the financial year ended March 2024. This figure is close to the pre-covid times when Infosys received 2.33 million applications by the end of March 2019.

Despite the number of applications being similar to pre-covid times, the number of jobs offered was much lower last year than pre-covid times.

Infosys offered 26,975 jobs last year whereas it offered 94,324 jobs in the year ended March 2019.

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The number of applications received last year is lesser than half the applications received in the preceding two years, that is FY23 and FY22. This reduction in applications received comes after two consecutive years of mass hiring and the company receiving more than five million applications.

Infosys is the only IT services company of India’s top four that discloses the applications received and offers given. This does not include subsidiaries.

Drop attributed to fewer openings last year

A person with knowledge of the company’s hiring plans attributes this drop to the fewer openings last year.

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“We were not hiring as much so the applications were low. During covid, hiring was in bulk but right now, the sector is shaken up and a lot of things have frozen,” he said, adding that hiring processes were similar across IT services firms.

An analyst said the low applications received were on account of young applicants not finding jobs at IT services companies appealing.

“Traditional Indian IT services firms are not being viewed as exciting career tracks for many ambitious young graduates. Most fresher graduates are ambitious, and GCCs and startups are offering more challenging work, more money, and are simply more exciting places to work,” said Phil Fersht, chief executive officer of US-based HFS Research, an outsourcing research firm.

To be sure, Mint could not independently ascertain the number of fresher and lateral hires at Infosys.

“Why would they want to suffer a life of soul-crushing work for a company that still operates the way it did 15-20 years ago,” Fersht said.

A staffing firm executive, however, felt the decline in applications and jobs offered were due to an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

“Overall economic uncertainty and a global slowdown have resulted in reduced hiring,” said Krishna Vij, vice-president and business head of IT staffing at TeamLease Digital, a Bengaluru-based staffing firm.

“Additionally, the tech industry’s evolving landscape has shifted towards more specialized and niche skills, further impacting the number of applications received,” she said.

The low people demand at IT services companies is on account of low growth. The company grew 1.9% last year, which is its weakest ever, to end March 2024 with $18.6 billion in full-year revenue.

According to the person with knowledge of the company, job requirements at Infosys come from a hiring manager. Then, the human resources (HR) team prepares a job description after which candidates are sourced and screened.

The selected candidates are called for two rounds of interviews, the first being a technical interview to gauge the candidate’s skill sets and the second being a HR interview. Candidates that clear the two rounds of interviews are onboarded.

While sourcing the right fit through millions of applications might be cumbersome, the company uses automation tools to simplify the hiring process.

“The sourcing and screening of 80% of the employees hired in FY24 was done through artificial intelligence (AI). Earlier, it was done manually through a staffing firm but now AI is helpful,” said the person with knowledge of the company’s working mentioned earlier, adding that it takes around 10 days to know if a candidate is a perfect fit for the organisation.

Emails sent to Infosys were not answered.

TeamLease’s Vij says her company still helps IT services firms to find the right fit.

“We use Gen AI in our hiring process to streamline resume screening, candidate sourcing, and skills assessment,” said Vij. “These tools efficiently match candidates with the precise skill sets needed for different projects or roles. AI-powered predictive analytics also enhance the ability to forecast candidate success and suitability, improving overall hiring efficiency and effectiveness.”

For the first time in more than two decades, Infosys’s full-year headcount declined by upwards of 25,000 at the end of last year. Three of India’s top four IT services companies including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Wipro Ltd, and Infosys culled headcount last year whereas HCL Technologies Ltd added employees.

Another analyst said hiring might further pick up in the current financial year.

“Many Global 2000 companies have made 5% to 10% cuts in their workforce hoping automation would replace workers, but the reality is most automation and AI is not ready for complete replacement, so there will be more demand in 2025 and this will be the beginning of the next boom cycle,” said Ray Wang, founder and chief executive of Constellation Research.