HCL Technologies has offered a skill-based allowance of 25-30% of their CTC (cost-to-company) to about 16,000 employees. “These are skills where customers are paying a premium and we are passing it on to the employees. Over the years the number of people who qualify for this allowance has seen a steady increase. It’s a narrow segment, and that skill has to be in demand,” said Apparao V V, Chief HR Officer. HCL had introduced skill-based allowances some three years ago.

The C Vijayakumar - led HCL has identified 25-30 hot skills. “Based on 18 months data, we have geared up our engine in terms of certifying and training these people so that we can fulfil a large part of the demand internally. If 100 positions are required, we can fulfil 55 positions internally,” Apparao said.

HCL is hiring 20,000 campus graduates in FY22, compared to 14,500 in the previous fiscal. “We have demand for 17,000 people from different businesses and this year we are targeting 20,000 new recruits. Our offshore hiring has increased dramatically as the business mix has changed due to visa policies, the Covid situation,” Apparao said. As of March 31, HCL’s headcount was 1,68,977. It added 18,554 people last year. Attrition came down to 9.9% from 16% a year earlier.