Good news for freshers! HCL hikes salary packages for freshers

New Delhi: After two years of Covid-19 pandemic, things finally seem to be getting back on track and even more so for freshers! How? Well, the answer is higher pay packages. Noida-based IT company HCL Technologies has hiked the salary package of freshers from the previous Rs 3.5 lakh per year to Rs 4.25 lakh per year.

Along with this, the IT major also introduced comprehensive increment plans for the entry level during the previous fiscal year (FY22), according to their chief human resources officer VV Apparao.

“Wherever the skills are at a premium, we increase the grades. If you look at the fresher talent, today, we are paying Rs 4.25 lakh per annum to graduates now,” Apparao told Economic Times. The company’s changes in salary package and appraisal plans are aimed at attracting more talent and combatting an acute attrition challenge.

The wage hike could be announced in July.

With a focus now set on retention and fresher growth through its system, it will take a few more quarters for HCL before the attrition rate recedes from the current 20 per cent levels. The country’s third largest software services provider by revenue is now also broadening its base in smaller cities and abroad to see its talent base balloon.

HCL’s plans for freshers

As part of its plan to increase the fresher base, HCL is even talking to the educational institutions where they are selecting these kids and asking the educational institutions to make it a part of the curriculum so that they complete these and join at Rs 6 lakh per annum, Apparao shared.

This hike in package in FY22 is in addition to HCL’s existing programme that lets freshers get additional certifications to increase their compensation to Rs 6 lakh a year.

Meanwhile, HCL Tech reported an operating margin of 18 per cent for the quarter ended March 31 and 18.9 per cent for the full fiscal year, which were at the lower end of estimates due to higher employee costs and a seasonal dip in its products and platforms (P&P) business.

Fresher hirings at HCL

In FY22, the IT company exceeded its guidance for fresher hires (20,000-22,000) and welcomed 23,000 recruits. For the present year, HCL has predicted nearly 34,000 fresher recruits. Of the total employee base of 208,877, HCL’s fresher intake is about 11 per cent.

This is much less than the fresher intakes of rivals like TCS and Infosys at 16 per cent and 27 208,877 fresher intake respectively, as a share of their overall employee base in FY22.

“Last year, we already rolled out increments, defined fresher compensation grids and corrected the same for the previous five batches. In addition, we also rolled out a couple of retention kitties. Hence, I don’t see that there would be a need for anything more than what we have given as an increment last year because it was not a standalone increment,” Apparao said.