When is TCS expecting its employees back in office?
Country's largest software company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is hoping that its over 5 lakh employees may return to the office once they are vaccinated against the novel coronavirus by September this year. Commenting on the quarterly results of Q1FY22, company's chief of global human resources Milind Lakkad stated, "...In less than two months, over half a million associates and family members and over 70 percent of our associates have been vaccinated, and we are on track to vaccinate all TCSers and families by September." He also said, "During the months of April and May, the second wave of pandemic has been quite demanding for the TCS Family. Our thoughts are with the families who suffered personal loss despite our best efforts. I want to acknowledge the temperament and personality of our associates who stood by each other in these stressful times." TCS, which recently reported its quarterly results for Q1FY22, said that it will be hiring more than 40,000 freshers from campuses in the country in the financial year 2021-22. "From the campus in India, we hired 40,000 last year. We will continue to hire and hire 40,000 or more this year in India," Lakkad told reporters, adding that lateral hiring will also be robust" this year. The company's chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam said there is no dearth of talent supply in India and also disagreed with concerns about its cost. He termed Indian talent as phenomenal" given their skill sets and the work culture. Its chief executive and managing director Rajesh Gopinathan said it often gets asked if the organisation is too large but added that the way it is structured makes it possible from a management and nimble-footedness perspective. TCS has broken the organisation into small, autonomous entities with support from the top which helps take care of challenges, he said, pointing out that several entities like the railways, armed forces and political parties function with large pools of people. Furthermore, during the earnings call, TCs stated that the employee headcount crossed the 500,000-mark in the June quarter, with total workforce of 509,058 as of June 30. TCS saw a net addition of 20,409, its highest quarterly net addition ever. "The workforce continues to be very diverse, comprising 155 nationalities and with women making up 36.2% of the workforce," the Tata group company said. On Thursday, India's largest IT services firm announced a 29% rise year-on-year in quarterly profit, powered by higher demand from businesses ramping up digital services during the COVID-19 crisis. Net profit rose to 9,008 crore, in the three months to June 30 from 7,008 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations jumped 18.5% to 45,411 crore. Operating margin improved to 25.5%. TCS also announced an interim dividend 7 per share. Commenting on the Q1 earnings, Rajesh Gopinathan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said: I am humbled that in a personally challenging quarter to many, TCSers demonstrated phenomenal character in helping each other, be meaningful to the communities and delivered on our commitments to clients. On that backdrop, our business in North America, BFSI and Retail all showed an appreciable growth which underlines the resilience of our operating model, relevance of our offerings and above all, the passion and dedication of our associates." Meanwhile, Lakkad admitted that the company indeed gets a few requests from employees who are against vaccination but tries to explain to them the importance of taking the jab. Gopinathan said Indians should not be too harsh on themselves with the slow pace of the vaccination, pointing out that the volumes are still high. He, however, added that this does not mean they can be complacent on the programme, and added that there is a need to up the pace. The company scrip closed 1.52 per cent down at 3,207.75 apiece on the BSE. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.