The Industry Perspective: Deconstructing the “No Freshers” Stance in IT

Section 4:

The perception that “in IT, they don’t want freshers” is not just an anecdotal frustration; it reflects a deep, structural shift in the hiring practices of India’s flagship technology sector. For decades, the IT industry was the primary engine of white-collar job creation, absorbing hundreds of thousands of engineering graduates each year through a predictable, pyramid-style hiring model. That era is now drawing to a close, and understanding the reasons behind this transformation is crucial for any aspiring tech professional.

The Structural Shift in IT Hiring

The country’s top IT firms have fundamentally altered their approach to talent acquisition. The model of mass-recruiting freshers to build a large “bench” of trainable, low-cost resources has been replaced by a more cautious, specialist-focused strategy. Net hiring numbers have been muted for several consecutive quarters. In the June quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, the top five IT companies collectively added just 4,787 employees—a stark contrast to the 53,652 added in the same quarter of 2021. Some major players, including HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, even reported net reductions in their workforce, highlighting the immense pressure on fresher hiring. The industry is no longer hiring for volume; it is hiring for specific, high-value skills.

The Drivers of Change

This strategic pivot is not arbitrary but is driven by a confluence of powerful technological and economic forces.

First, the rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation is reshaping the very structure of IT work. Many of the routine, entry-level (L1 and L2) tasks in areas like software testing, infrastructure management, and basic coding—which once served as the primary training ground for freshers—are now being automated. This has significantly reduced the industry’s need for a large base of entry-level human capital.

Second, persistent economic uncertainty and a weak global deal pipeline have made companies intensely risk-averse. In the face of unpredictable demand, they are prioritizing immediate project requirements and profitability over long-term talent development. Onboarding and training freshers is a significant investment with a delayed return, a cost that many firms are now unwilling to bear, especially when they can hire experienced professionals who can be deployed immediately.

Third, the nature of demand has shifted towards niche, high-end skills. The growth areas in IT are no longer in traditional application development and maintenance but in specialized domains like AI, machine learning, cloud architecture, and cybersecurity. These fields require cross-functional, full-stack expertise that fresh graduates, with their theoretical and siloed education, typically do not possess.

Case Study: The Divergent Paths of TCS and Infosys

The industry’s response to these pressures is not monolithic, as illustrated by the contrasting strategies of two of its largest players, TCS and Infosys.

TCS, historically one of the largest recruiters of fresh talent, made headlines with significant layoffs, signaling a major strategic reset and a move away from its traditional, people-heavy model. This move reflects a broader industry trend towards rationalization and a focus on higher-margin, specialized services.

In contrast, Infosys has taken a different path. The company publicly reaffirmed its commitment to hiring 20,000 freshers for the year and announced a massive internal initiative to reskill over 275,000 of its employees in AI. The strategy at Infosys appears to be not to abandon freshers, but to fundamentally transform them. Their approach suggests a belief that fresh talent can be molded for the AI era, but only through an intensive, company-led reskilling process that effectively turns them into specialists before they are deployed on projects. This is not a continuation of the old model but an adaptation to the new reality, where even freshers must be rapidly upskilled to remain relevant.

This shift has redefined what it means to be an “entry-level” employee. The traditional role of a fresher as an inexpensive, trainable resource for low-complexity tasks is vanishing. The new “entry-level” position increasingly demands a baseline of specialized skills and the ability to contribute value from day one. The industry has moved “from freshers to specialists”.

The “Catch-22” and the Onboarding Crisis

This industry-wide transformation creates a vicious cycle for graduates, deepening the “experience paradox.” As companies prioritize specialists, the number of genuine entry-level openings shrinks, making it even harder for freshers to get their first break. Compounding this problem is the deeply unethical practice of onboarding delays. Thousands of graduates who receive offer letters from major IT firms are left in limbo for months, and in some cases, for over a year, before being formally inducted. This practice, which has been condemned by industry veterans like T.V. Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys, leaves young professionals in a state of financial and career uncertainty and reflects the industry’s view of freshers as a disposable buffer against market volatility.

A more profound, long-term structural change is also at play: headcount has decoupled from revenue. In the IT services model of the past, revenue growth was almost perfectly correlated with adding more employees. Today, thanks to AI-driven productivity gains and automation, companies can grow their revenue without proportionally increasing their workforce. This is a fundamental reset of the industry’s business model. It means that even when the IT sector grows, it will not generate the same massive volume of jobs it once did. This is a critical reality for aspiring professionals to understand. Waiting for the industry to “recover” and resume its old hiring patterns is not a viable strategy. The future of IT hiring will be driven by value and specialized skills, not by volume.