Leading IT services and consulting companies — including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, Accenture, Capgemini, and Tech Mahindra — are reviving hiring activity in 2025 after a subdued 2024, signaling renewed optimism driven by digital transformation, AI, and cloud adoption across global clients.
TCS announced plans to hire around 42,000 freshers in 2025, even as it undertook a 2 percent workforce reduction impacting about 12,000 employees, mostly at senior levels. The company also promoted more than 100,000 employees across ranks and is conducting lateral hiring interviews in major cities such as Bengaluru and Mumbai.
TCS offers entry-level salaries of around ₹3.3–4 lakh per annum for its standard “Ninja” roles, with specialized “Digital” and “Prime” positions offering between ₹7–9 lakh for candidates with advanced technical expertise.
Infosys has resumed its campus recruitment drive, targeting 20,000 new graduates in FY25–26 and reaffirmed that it will not implement layoffs this year. It continues to run inclusive programs such as Restart with Infosys, aimed at professionals re-entering the workforce.
Infosys provides fresh graduates an annual package of about ₹3–3.5 lakh, while participants in its Power Programmer or Specialist Engineer programs can earn between ₹6–9 lakh depending on coding and AI skills.
Wipro plans to onboard between 10,000 and 12,000 freshers in the coming fiscal, supported by its STAR program for early-career engineers.
Wipro’s fresher pay typically ranges from ₹1.5–5 lakh, though select candidates in its “Elite” or “Turbo” tracks have historically secured up to ₹6.5–7 lakh. Cognizant offers one of the wider pay scales among IT majors, from ₹4–12 lakh per annum for engineering graduates, with the higher end reserved for high-skill tech roles and premium institutions.
Cognizant is set to hire 20,000 freshers in 2025, focusing on AI, managed services, and digital platforms, while maintaining a stable overall workforce.
HCLTech remains cautious, adding new employees based on project demand and specialist roles. Accenture has launched extensive recruitment drives in India, expanding its operations with a new campus in Andhra Pradesh expected to create about 12,000 jobs, while also hiring for digital and AI-ready roles despite global restructuring.
HCLTech offers between ₹1.4–5 lakh per annum for most entry-level positions, with specialized engineering or AI-based roles fetching up to ₹10 lakh in select cases.
Capgemini India is on an aggressive expansion path, planning to hire between 40,000 and 45,000 employees in 2025, with a strong emphasis on AI capabilities and engineering roles. Capgemini offers comparable pay scales, typically around ₹4–6 lakh, with higher packages for candidates trained in data, AI, or full-stack development.
Tech Mahindra has also confirmed hiring 6,000 freshers this fiscal and continues to hold walk-in drives in key cities. Industry surveys show that nearly three-fourths of Indian companies intend to hire freshers in 2025, with Tier-2 cities such as Coimbatore, Nagpur, and Nashik witnessing a surge in IT job creation.
Tech Mahindra’s fresher salaries generally fall between ₹3–5 lakh, aligned with other Tier-1 IT firms.
Accenture has launched recruitment drives in India, including for associate / entry-level roles. Accenture provides freshers a salary range of ₹3–6.5 lakh, depending on role type and location, with top candidates in analytics and AI engineering earning on the higher side.
According to Nasscom report, India’s IT and technology sector is projected to add about 126,000 net new jobs in FY25, almost doubling the previous year’s addition of 60,000. This will take the sector’s total workforce to 5.8 million employees, reflecting a 2.2 percent year-on-year increase.
Nasscom highlighted that while automation and AI-driven restructuring may lead to selective layoffs, the industry remains a net job creator with expanding opportunities in digital, AI, and cybersecurity domains. It described 2025 as an “inflection point” for Indian IT, emphasizing that workforce reskilling and collaboration between industry and academia will be key to sustaining growth.
Nasscom also projected that the Indian tech industry’s total revenue will grow by 5.1 percent in FY25 to reach $282.6 billion, with software exports up by 4.6 percent.
The recruitment across India’s IT sector reflects a transition from mass hiring to specialized talent acquisition focused on AI, data engineering, and cloud technologies. IT services companies are investing heavily in reskilling, internal mobility, and career restart programs to prepare their workforce for the next phase of digital growth.
The rebound in fresher intake, coupled with Nasscom’s positive job outlook, signals strong business confidence and the sector’s readiness for large-scale digital transformation in the years ahead.
Rajani Baburajan
