By Express News Service

BENGALURU: In a stark admission that job cuts will loom large as machines replace humans in the IT industry, Infosys said that in fiscal 2017, automation has released the jobs of 11,000 full-time employees.

In his address to shareholders at the 36th Annual General Meeting, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka reiterated the company’s intentions to move towards automation. As a result of automation, utilisation and productivity improvements, the revenue per full-time employee (FTE) has increased by 1.2 per cent.

“Automation itself has released about 11,000 FTE worth of effort through the year, a clear demonstration of how software is going to play a crucial role in our business model,” Sikka said adding that the next 33 years will be about transformation into the digital future and embracing Artificial Intelligence.

Those employees whose jobs have been replaced by machines are awaiting reskilling or a different assignment within the organisation, an Infosys spokesperson told Express.

In response to a query by Express, the spokesperson clarified that these figures were not indicative of the layoffs.