Infosys has added 210 employees in the April–June 2025 quarter, marking its fourth consecutive quarter of headcount growth. With this, the company’s total workforce has reached 323,788 employees as of 30 June 2025. The figures were confirmed in the company’s Q1 FY26 earnings release, which also showed stronger-than-expected profit growth. However, no timeline has been set for the next round of salary hikes, raising questions about how the company plans to balance talent retention with cost management.
The 210 additions contrast with headcount declines seen across most Indian IT peers in the same quarter. TCS was the exception, while companies such as Wipro, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, and LTIMindtree all reported net reductions in employee numbers during Q1 FY26, according to reporting by The Economic Times and CNBC-TV18.
Infosys’s Chief Financial Officer Jayesh Sanghrajka acknowledged that the recent wage hike, rolled out in two phases—January and April 2025—along with a higher variable pay, had already dented margins by 100 basis points this quarter. “In the margin of this quarter, we had 100 basis points of impact on account of the wage hike as well as the higher variable pay that we paid to our employees,” Sanghrajka stated in the company’s post-earnings press briefing. “So that’s already done. Having done the wage hike very recently, you know, next one we’ll have to decide when.”
The delay in setting a timeline for the next salary increment comes amid increasing attrition, which rose to 14.4% in Q1 FY26, up from 14.1% in the previous quarter and 12.7% in the same period a year ago. While still lower than pandemic-era peaks, the uptick suggests persistent concerns around talent churn in a slowly recovering IT market.
In terms of utilisation, excluding trainees, Infosys reported an improvement to 85.2%, compared to 84.9% in the previous quarter. This, according to Sanghrajka, reflects “operational discipline” and “healthy project ramp-ups.”
Despite cautious cost moves, Infosys reaffirmed its commitment to fresher hiring, reiterating that the company is on track to meet its goal of onboarding over 20,000 freshers in FY26. This follows 15,000 fresher hires in FY25.
“If you look at our hiring numbers, our overall headcount has remained constant at this point in time, and our utilisation is at its peak at 85%,” Sanghrajka said. “So, we will continue hiring in line with what we announced at the beginning of the year.”
On the financial front, Infosys posted an 8.7% year-on-year rise in net profit to ₹6,921 crore, exceeding analyst expectations of 4–7% growth. Revenue climbed 7.5% year-on-year to ₹42,279 crore, while operating margin dipped slightly to 20.8%, down from 21.1% a year ago. Both revenue and margin results were broadly in line with analyst projections reported by Reuters and Bloomberg.
The company also revised its FY26 constant currency revenue growth guidance, raising the lower end of the range from 0% to 1%, now forecasting 1–3% growth. The operating margin outlook was retained at 20–22%.
CEO Salil Parekh attributed the solid performance to Infosys’s strength in enterprise AI offerings, large deal wins, and workforce commitment. “Our performance in Q1 demonstrates the strength of our enterprise AI capabilities, the success in client consolidation decisions, and the dedication of our over 300,000 employees,” he said in a statement. Parekh also highlighted $3.8 billion in large deal signings as evidence of Infosys’s “distinct competitive positioning.”
Infosys shares reacted moderately to the earnings announcement, closing 0.27% higher at ₹1,574.40 on the BSE on 19 July.
Analysts suggest that Infosys’s decision to delay the next wage hike could be a strategic effort to preserve profitability amid rising input costs, wage inflation, and intense pricing pressure. Still, as attrition ticks upward, there is growing scrutiny over how effectively such measures will support employee morale and retention in the long term.
As Infosys navigates an evolving macroeconomic landscape, its balancing act between growth, cost control, and talent management will remain under watch in the quarters ahead.