'Hiring will depend on biz'

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies feels that the business environment in India has deteriorated over the last year, and says its revenue outlook projections are a reflection of this fact. Vivek Sinha reports.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies feels that the business environment in India has deteriorated over the last year, and says its revenue outlook projections are a reflection of this fact. SD Shibulal, CEO and MD, told HT that if the dark patch continues, it could have a bearing on Infy's hiring outlook for the next fiscal as well. Excerpts:

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At 5% growth (in dollar terms), your revenue outlook remains unchanged…
Well, there has been no change in the business environment from the beginning of the last quarter till now. Our guidance is based on facts as we see them at that time.

Can this affect hiring outlook?
We are not changing our hiring outlook for this fiscal. We have given 26,000 job offers. We have already said that we will hire 35,000 this fiscal year and that's where we will end up.

What about the hiring outlook for 2013-14?
That's too early to say at this point. But yes, hiring outlook is a reflection of business outlook so if the business outlook remains muted then the hiring outlook will be muted.

Your peer firms have been doing reasonably well?
The impact will be different on different corporations and that will be based on multiple factors. The impact is determined by portfolio, the amount of consulting revenue that you get, the dependency on discretionary spend, client base etc.