TCS Q2: IT firm claims GenAI-ready workforce of over 1 lakh, attrition down 660 bps YoY

Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced its Q2 earnings on Wednesday and in its post-earnings release, the company reported 660 basis point (bps) drop in attrition as compared to the year ago quarter.

Drop in attrition

The LTM IT Services attrition rate at Q2 FY 24 came in at 14.9 per cent. The attrition in Q2FY23 was around 21.5 per cent, a difference of 6.6 percentage points. Attrition improved on a quarterly basis as well. The attrition in Q1FY 24 was at 17.8 per cent.

AI skills in focus

The IT major focussed on AI skilling in the quarter, Chief Operating Officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam explained. One sixth of the company’s 6 lakh strong workforce is trained in GenAI, the COO noted.

“We continue to make investments in our people and new technologies. We now have a 100,000-strong pool of Gen-AI Ready consultants and prompt-engineers who are engaged in hundreds of Gen-AI projects for our clients across segments,” he said.

The focus on GenAI was due to clients’ interest in the area, the company explained. The IT major launched services specific to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data sciences in the September ended quarter.

The company said, “Launched in Q2, this unit brings together TCS’ three hyperscaler-dedicated cloud units and specialists in data sciences and AI/ML. Cloud Migration, composite data foundation, application modernization, workplace transformation and edge to cloud, coupled with AI adoption frameworks continued to drive growth in Q2. TCS’ investments in deepening competencies and building new capabilities continue to yield good results.”

Hiring

The company’s net headcount went down 6,333 people. The company has 608,985 employees as of September 30, the report noted. Hiring and employee addition has remained subdued, the Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad added.

“Our strategy of proactively hiring bright freshers and investing in training them with the right skills is paying off. With that talent coming on stream and with reduced attrition, we were able to recalibrate our gross additions, keeping it below the departures during the quarter, driving up productivity and enhancing project outcomes,” Lakkad said.