‘Train then hire’: How Wipro is boosting its internal talent base, changing hiring focus on engineering colleges

Wipro, ranked as India’s fourth-largest

IT services

provider, is strengthening its internal workforce in anticipation of market recovery and growth in 2025, according to chief human resources officer

Saurabh Govil

.
The IT services organisation, with revenue approaching $11 billion, aims to establish stability under CEO Srinivas Pallia’s leadership, following multiple senior-level departures during the previous chief executive’s tenure.
Govil explained that Srini is focused on selecting leaders committed to long-term engagement whilst maintaining a balanced mix of internal promotions and external recruitment. The approach emphasises continuity, with minimal alterations to existing structures and strategies.
Following a two-year period of minimal recruitment across the $254 billion software services industry, Wipro has recommenced hiring both fresh graduates and experienced professionals.

Wipro anticipates recruiting approximately 7,000-7,500 individuals through December end, in the first nine months of the fiscal year, whilst addressing all pending appointments. Technology firms had previously selected fresh graduates but delayed their joining due to subdued market conditions.
The organisation has shifted its recruitment strategy for engineering institutions.
The previous approach of “hire and then train” has been modified.

“Now we have changed it to train and then hire. We are working with lot of our partners like Microsoft, Google, AWS (Amazon Web Services). We choose people, we train them, we assess them, and then we onboard them so they’re deployable much faster,” Govil said.
Wipro is collaborating with chosen educational institutions to establish academies, assisting them in understanding industry requirements and proposing curriculum adjustments, ensuring graduates are revenue-ready before joining the organisation.
The company has established partnerships with institutions including IIT-Delhi, IISc-Bangalore and various regional universities across 10 cities such as Chandigarh, Noida and Coimbatore to support research & development in contemporary technologies including cybersecurity, big data and cloud computing.
Following Thierry Delaporte’s departure, Pallia assumed the role of CEO and managing director in April. Wipro has seen approximately twelve senior executive departures over the past year.
At the Bengaluru-based organisation owned by Azim Premji, Pallia continues to elevate experienced staff members to senior leadership positions.
Leading IT organisations, including Wipro, have observed preliminary indicators of business recovery and improved client engagement in North America and the financial services sector over recent quarters.
Govil emphasised their priority to ensure adequate supply-side capacity to meet anticipated demand as market conditions improve.
He acknowledged potential challenges ahead, including increased attrition and higher wage costs affecting profit margins, whilst maintaining that margin concerns would resolve with renewed growth.