Will AI Cut Jobs At Infosys? What Company Said On Freshers & Lateral Hiring And Its Rigorous Mysore Training Process

Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services exporter, reported its financial results for the first quarter of the financial year 2025–26 (Q1 FY26), showing steady growth compared to the same period last year.

Despite global macroeconomic uncertainty, particularly in the US and Europe, the company remains confident about its hiring plans and sees growth opportunities driven by AI and enterprise transformation.

Broad-Based Industry Caution

Infosys CEO and MD, Salil Parekh, noted that while the overall economic environment is evolving—especially in the US and European markets—it hasn't impacted Infosys at a client or project level.

“We see changes in the economic outlook, particularly with all of the developments in the US and Europe. However, we have not seen any change at the level of a specific client or a specific project situation. The impact is more general and broad-based, as we had shared earlier,” he said.

He added that industries such as logistics, consumer products, and manufacturing (especially automotive) are placing more emphasis on cost and efficiency. “First, there's a greater emphasis on cost and efficiency across sectors. At an industry level, you can observe this more in segments like logistics, consumer products, or some parts of manufacturing like automotive.”

AI Creating New Workstreams, Not Replacing Jobs

Infosys highlighted how AI and enterprise automation are accelerating client initiatives and helping create new business opportunities.

“With AI, we are definitely seeing productivity benefits. Specifically, with enterprise AI, there are more engagements we’re involved in with clients. For example, cloud transitions are being accelerated, and the foundations around data and analytics are being strengthened,” Parekh noted.

“These programs—cloud, data, and analytics—are fundamental to making enterprise AI successful with clients. And as a result, these initiatives are giving us newer work opportunities,” he added.

The company believes these AI-led programs, along with client consolidation and cost-efficiency trends, are supporting its growth.

“On balance, we find that all of this—whether it’s AI-driven productivity, client consolidation, or cost-efficiency programs—continues to support our growth activity. And so, we will continue with our hiring plan for this year,” he confirmed.

Also Read: Infosys Q1 FY26 Results: IT Giant Net Profit Up By 9.1%

Hiring Plans Remain on Track

Despite cautious industry sentiment, Infosys confirmed that it will stick to its previously announced hiring targets for both freshers and lateral talent. “Regarding hiring, recruiting, and people: we already have a plan for recruitment this year—for both college graduates and lateral hires,” said Jayesh Sanghrajka, CFO, Infosys.

“If you look at our hiring numbers, our overall headcount has remained constant at this point,” he stated. “Our utilisation is at its peak—at 85%. So, we will continue hiring, and we expect to do so in line with what we announced at the beginning of the year. There’s no change there,” he added.

On lateral hiring and onboarding, he replied, “We haven’t stopped any of the lateral hiring or deferred any of the lateral hiring.”

Strong Freshers’ Training and Assessment Process

Infosys addressed recent concerns around freshers being let go from its Mysore training campus, clarifying that its long-standing assessment system ensures talent quality for clients. “We have a rigorous process for hiring college graduates. After joining, they go through a very focused foundational training program at the Mysore campus,” said Infosys.

“Following the training, we expect that they meet our internal assessment standards. All of the people who join us get three attempts to meet those standards.” “If, after the third attempt, they don’t meet the criteria, they do not continue with the company. This is a process that has been in use for the last 20 years.”

“It’s something that’s important to us, because we want to ensure that the quality we are delivering to our clients is based on these internal standards that we’ve set. That’s the approach we’ve followed there,” the company added.

Headcount Growth and Attrition Update

As of June 30, 2025, Infosys reported a total employee strength of 323,788, up from 315,332 in Q1 FY25. The number of software professionals rose from 298,123 to 306,706, while sales and support staff slightly declined from 17,209 to 17,082.

However, voluntary attrition in IT services rose to 14.4%, compared to 12.7% a year ago—indicating increased employee churn. The gender ratio stayed largely stable, with women employees at 39.1%, marginally down from 39.2% in the previous year.