Wipro had 162,553 employees on December 31, compared to 163,759 on September 30.

BENGALURU: Wipro ’s total headcount at the end of December dipped, just like other Indian IT companies, as they go slow on hiring in large numbers due to the impact of automation which makes basic jobs redundant.

The company had 162,553 employees on December 31, compared to 163,759 on September 30. Voluntary quarterly annualized attrition was 16.2% compared to 16.7 in the second quarter.

“We are going to campuses but are focused in the space of analytics, AI and IoT. We have stepped hiring in the NITs (National Institute of Technology) and IITs. But is the overall volume the same. The answer is no,” president and chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil said.

Govil explained the criteria to hire in the current age is a candidate’s aptitude to learn and learning agility. “The concept of hiring has now changed to reskilling.”

Wipro said it has also stepped out hiring in its overseas markets with 55% of its US employees being local, up from 36% twenty months ago. The number is as high as 95% in Latin America and 66% in continental Europe.

“In the markets we operate we need to get more and more local. We are hiring talent at entrylevel, grooming them and then aiming to create local leadership. The endeavor is to be attractive to local Americans,” he added.

