TCS Added 5,090 Employees In Q1FY26; What About Salary Hike, Hiring Plan Ahead? Find Out

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the largest tech hirer in India. In the June 2025 quarter, this Tata Group-backed IT player added 6,071 employees to its total headcount, while its attrition rate came in at 13.8%. However, going ahead, TCS is yet to decide on wage hikes, and its hiring plan is likely to be challenging due to uncertain macro conditions.

TCS Hiring:

In Q1FY26, the company added 6,071 employees on a year-on-year basis, taking its total headcount to 613,069 employees as of the June 2025 quarter. However, TCS' net addition is at 5,090 employees in the quarter under review, compared to the March 2025 quarter where headcount stood at 607,979 employees.

That being said, TCS attrition rate rose mildly to 13.8% as of the June 2025 quarter, compared to a 13.3% rate as of the March 2025 quarter.

Associates invested 15 million hours and acquired 1.3 million competencies in emerging technologies, enabling them to lead the transformation journey for our customers, it said.

Meanwhile, Milind Lakkad, Chief HR Officer, said "Talent Development is core to TCS. In this quarter, our associates invested 15 million hours in building expertise in emerging technologies, enabling them to lead the transformation journey for our customers. It is gratifying to note that TCS now has 114,000 people with higher-order AI skills".

TCS Hiring Plan?

While talking to the media, Lakkad said, "Hiring shouldn't be connected to quarterly growth. Hiring is planned every year." His statement comes after he was asked about TCS reevaluating its stance on hiring 42,000 freshers for FY26.

However, Lakkad pointed out that TCS had hired aggressively initially, which resulted in some business challenges. He explained this has led to an imbalance, but, "we are not that bothered as we will leverage this going forward."

Also, CEO K Krithivasan revealed the Tata tech giant is seeing a lot of pent-up demand, but the company is held back due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions.

TCS Salary Hikes:

TCS has refrained from giving any clarity on its wage hike plan. Lakkad said, TCS has not made any decision so far on wage hike. He added TCS will let everyone know about the wage revisions soon.

The revision in wages could happen anytime, depending on TCS's business going forward, said Lakkad.

Earlier in May, TCS told GoodReturns, "We have paid out 100% QVA (Quarterly Variable Allowance) to over 70% of the company. For all other grades, the QVA depends on their unit's business performance. This is in line with our standard practice across quarters." This was for the financial 2024-25.

On the bottom line, TCS posted 5.98% YoY and 4.4% QoQ growth to consolidated net profit of Rs 12,760 crore in Q1FY26. The company's operating margins expanded by 30 basis points on a QoQ basis to 24.5%.

However, India's largest tech company, TCS saw a mixed performance in terms of revenue. TCS' consolidated revenue stood at Rs 63,437 crore, down by 1.6% QoQ but up by 1.3% YoY. In constant currency, the revenue declined 3.1% YoY.

TCS management stated it is too early to say when growth will come back in revenue. They are optimistic about demand in AI and data.