BENGALURU: Volume hiring is giving way to skills-led recruitment as tech firms narrow fresher intake to specialised roles. Even as entry-level hiring slows, companies are offering packages ranging from Rs 16 lakh to Rs 55 lakh for niche fresher roles, underscoring how skills are increasingly trumping volume. Firms are wooing select freshers with higher pay cheques in roles across AI, data engineering, digital engineering, cloud and cybersecurity, with salaries up to four times higher than the typical Rs 4 lakh entry-level packages in the IT sector that end up being the bulk of the hiring pyramid.
Also, the talent war for skills in emerging areas pushed IT companies to raise salary brackets. Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, for instance, is offering technical solution intern roles to select students from tier-1 colleges with compensation of Rs 35 lakh per annum, including RSUs (restricted stock units). An email sent to Palo Alto Networks on the compensation did not elicit a response till press time.Infosys invited engineering colleges to participate in its campus recruitment programme for the class of 2026, sharpening its focus on hiring specialised technical talent. As part of the programme, Infosys revised its compensation structure for freshers in specialised roles. Specialist programmer (trainee) positions are being offered across 3 levels, with annual packages of Rs 21 lakh for L3 (higher proficiency), Rs 16 lakh for L2, and Rs 10 lakh for L1, along with a joining bonus of Rs 1 lakh. Digital specialist engineer (trainee) roles carry an annual package of Rs 6.25 lakh, in addition to a joining bonus of Rs 75,000, according to a letter reviewed by TOI.Responding to a question on rolling out higher compensation, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, during the earnings interaction, said, “With our most recent approach and launch, we put together a framework for highly skilled software engineers working in AI-those with deep expertise-by creating specialised engineering roles within our structure, accompanied by higher, significantly higher, compensation levels.” HCLTech said it will continue to step up fresher hiring, particularly for specialised roles aligned with its AI strategy.
