Wipro's Headcount Fewer By 4,473 In Q3, Lowest Than Infosys, TCS; Attrition Rate At 10-Month Low

In the third quarter of FY24, more employees left two tech giants TCS and Infosys compared to Wipro which was the latest to deliver its Q3 earnings report. Employees continued to leave Azim Premji-backed Wipro, and in Q3, the numbers were staggering at 4,473 employees. But this was lower compared to exits in Q2FY24 in Wipro, and also lowest among the major rivals Infosys and TCS in Q3 of the same fiscal.

As per the regulatory filing, Wipro's headcount stood at 240,234 employees by the end of Q3FY24, fewer by 4,473 employees compared to a headcount of 244,707 employees in Q2FY24. Also, Wipro's employee base dropped by 21,875 employees compared to the total headcount of 262,109 people as of December 31, 2022.

On the other hand, Wipro's peer TCS' headcount stood at 603,305 by the end of the December 2023 quarter, less by 5,680 employees compared to 608,985 as of September 30, 2023. On year-on-year, TCS let go of 10,669 employees as against the headcount of 613,974 employees as of December 2022.

However, it will be Infosys among the three that recorded the most exits from employees. By the end of Q3FY24, Infosys' headcount stood at a total of 322,663 employees, as compared to 328,764 employees by the end of the September 2023 quarter, registering a decline of 6,101 employees. Compared to a headcount of 346,845 people in Q3FY23, Infosys has let go overall 24,182 employees overall.

Headcount in sales and support staff (IT services) declined to 15,833 employees in Q3FY24, compared to headcount of 16,778 employees in Q2FY24 and 16,942 in Q3FY23.

Wipro's voluntary attrition rate has continued to moderate and came in at 14.2% in Q3FY24 as against rates of 15.5% in Q2FY24 and 21.2% in Q3FY23. Accordingly, Wipro's attrition rate is at a 10-month low.

Net utilization of Wipro employees excluding trainiees, slipped marginally to 84% in Q3FY24 versus 84.5% in Q2FY24, however, higher from 79.7% in Q3FY23.

Notably, earlier in May, Wipro merged its Indian business from the state-run enterprises (ISRE) sector to its broader IT Services segment. This has led to a change in its headcount. Before the integration of ISRE business, the headcount of Wipro stood at 2,56,921 in Q4FY23. However, after the merging of the ISRE business, Wipro's headcount data was also restricted with a total number of employees recorded as 258,570 in Q4FY23.

Wipro's headcount has been slipping since Q4FY23.

Wipro has implemented a hybrid work policy during Q3. The policy requires employees to attend office premises three days each week. Through this move, Wipro plans to enhance teamwork and make it easier for face-to-face interactions. Also, the move is expected to strengthen the company's work culture.

In Q3FY24, Wipro registered a consolidated net profit, attributable to owners, to Rs 2,694.2 crore, down by 11.75% YoY but up by 1.81% QoQ. Meanwhile, rupee revenue came in at Rs 22,205.1 crore in Q3FY24, registering a drop of 4.41% YoY and 1.38% QoQ. In constant currency, the IT Services segment revenue decreased by 1.7% QoQ.

For Q4FY24, Wipro said it expects revenue from its IT services business segment to be in the range of $2,615 million to $2,669 million. This translates to sequential guidance of -1.5% to +0.5% in constant currency terms.