Rising staff exodus, a big worry for Infosys

Call it growth not linked to employee headcount or persistently high attrition but Infosys good show in FY14 hasn’t necessarily translated into increased hiring.

Consider this: In 2013-14, the company’s revenues grew 11.5 per cent but it added just 3,717 employees at the net level. In contrast, in 2012-13, when its revenues grew at half this rate, it added 6,694 employees.

Over 35,000 quit At the same time, 36,268 employees left the company during 2013-14. “Out of this, about 8,996 employees left between January-March for reasons such as higher studies and in pursuit of better jobs,” Chief Executive Officer SD Shibulal said. Much of the addition (2001 out of 3,717 employees) happened in the fourth quarter.

Of the employee exits, 1.5 per cent was involuntary, which means they were fired for non-performance.

Since its iconic co-founder NR Narayana Murthy's return in June last year, the company has seen an exodus among the top management too.

Top exits The company has seen around 10 top management exits, which includes the likes of former Chief Financial Officer and Board Director V Balakrishnan, another board member Ashok Vemuri, US-based consulting subsidiary head Stephen Pratt and global head of sales Basab Pradhan.

IT analysts continue to be concerned over this high attrition. “Unless the company reins in high attrition rate, the recent measures undertaken by the company to improve employees’ productivity would not fructify,” said Angel Broking IT and Telecom Analyst Ankita Somani said. At the end of 2014 fiscal, Infosys had 160,405 employees.