IT services firm HCL Tech plans to double its workforce in near-shore locations over the next 3-5 years, CEO C Vijayakumar said, saying the war between Russia and Ukraine has not affected demand from Europe.
HCL Tech employs approximately 10,000 people at all of its near-shore locations around the world. “We expect that number to double in the next 3 to 5 years,” Vijayakumar said. The company operates from 20 locations near the coast, including Mexico, Toronto, Vancouver, Costa Rica and Romania. HCL Tech’s CEO said the company will continue to expand in these locations.
The company has no presence in Russia or Ukraine. Its Eastern European hubs are in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and “all of them continue to operate at similar capacity levels”. “Whatever growth plans are underway in these places, they’re on the right track and these places are growing for us, too,” he said.
Demand from Europe remains “pretty strong,” he said, adding that the company has not seen the conflict between Russia and Ukraine affect demand. On the expansion plan and new centers for FY23, Vijayakumar said that some of HCL’s existing locations may expand.
“They are not entirely new locations, some of our existing locations may expand, such as Vietnam, Romania, Costa Rica, Mexico, and some hubs within the US…. these are the locations where we will expand,” he said. HCL Technologies had recently reported a three-fold increase in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ending March 2022 at Rs 3,593 crore.
It had struck an upbeat note on the “floating” market environment and “strong momentum across verticals and service lines” for 12-14 percent revenue growth for FY23. HCLT’s operating revenue for the March quarter just ended were Rs 22,597 crore, up 15 per cent from a year ago. For the fiscal year ending 31 March 2022, the net income was Rs 13,499 crore, compared to Rs 11,145 crore in the previous financial year.
Revenue from operations for the entire fiscal year to 31 March 2022 was Rs 85,651 crore, compared to Rs 75,379 crore in FY21. Telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and health care will be key drivers of the company’s growth in incremental revenue occurring this fiscal year. The company is looking to hire between 35,000 and 40,000 new people this year, in addition to lateral hiring, which will depend on demand, attrition and other factors, Vijayakumar said.