Revenue per employee rose at four of India's top IT services companies in FY26 as tech firms look to decouple headcount from revenue growth amid increasing adoption of artificial intelligence.
Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra posted 3-4% rise in their annual revenue per employee (RPE)-a metric to measure productivity levels-data from their FY26 financials. Wipro, though, saw its RPE decline for the year. "This is one of the clearest indicators that the industry is entering a services-as-software phase," said Phil Fersht, chief executive of US-based IT advisory firm HfS Research. "Revenue per employee increasing while hiring slows tells you that value creation is shifting from people hours to platform, automation, and AI leverage."
The increase in productivity numbers comes along as the tier-1 companies reported a net reduction of nearly 7,000 employees in the fiscal year, as mounting costs and AI-led productivity pressures led to muted hiring.
"This creates a barbell workforce, fewer people overall, more junior intake at the bottom, and a sharper focus on high-end AI, consulting, and domain talent at the top," Fersht said, highlighting that this represents an early phase of an AI-shaped workforce, where not scale, but productivity is the primary advantage.
The four firms had posted an average of 2%-2.5% rise in RPEs in FY25 when the tier-1 companies witnessed a net addition of 12,718 employees.
Industry watchers said a combination of factors, including higher utilisation rates and AI-led efficiency, is pointing to decoupling of headcount and revenue growth.
"The industry is gradually shifting from a linear, headcount-linked revenue model to a platform-based approach," said Kumar Rakesh, IT & auto analyst at BNP Paribas, India.
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The increase in productivity numbers comes along as the tier-1 companies reported a net reduction of nearly 7,000 employees in the fiscal year, as mounting costs and AI-led productivity pressures led to muted hiring.
"This creates a barbell workforce, fewer people overall, more junior intake at the bottom, and a sharper focus on high-end AI, consulting, and domain talent at the top," Fersht said, highlighting that this represents an early phase of an AI-shaped workforce, where not scale, but productivity is the primary advantage.
The four firms had posted an average of 2%-2.5% rise in RPEs in FY25 when the tier-1 companies witnessed a net addition of 12,718 employees.
Industry watchers said a combination of factors, including higher utilisation rates and AI-led efficiency, is pointing to decoupling of headcount and revenue growth.
"The industry is gradually shifting from a linear, headcount-linked revenue model to a platform-based approach," said Kumar Rakesh, IT & auto analyst at BNP Paribas, India.
