BENGALURU: There is not enough room for freshers in India’s top five IT firms. Net additions fell below 10,000 in the June quarter, reflecting ongoing caution amid persistent demand uncertainty.Firms are increasingly prioritising domain specialists, and with AI handling many L1 and L2 tasks, they are now seeking professionals with cross-functional, full-stack skills that are interoperable across teams.Collectively, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, and Tech Mahindra added just 4,787 employees. TCS led with 6,071 net hires, while Infosys followed with a modest 210. In contrast, HCLTech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra reported net reductions of 269, 114, and 1,111 employees respectively, highlighting the challenges freshers face as firms increasingly focus on hiring domain-specialist lateral entrants in the current environment.This marks a sharp decline from the June quarter of FY21, when the same group recorded net additions of 53,652 – followed by 59,704 in 2022-23, and 21,838 in the June quarter of 2023-24, with Wipro, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra accounting for the bulk of the contraction.“Traditional metrics like net hiring and utilisation no longer reflect growth in the IT services industry,” said Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, partner at technology advisory firm Catalincs. “These numbers also carry social implications. In the context of AI and digital, there is an urgent need for India to reimagine its higher education system. We need to emphasise applied problem-solving, interdisciplinary thinking, creativity, and adaptability to remain relevant.“Industry experts believe that hiring is largely concentrated in niche areas such as AI, cloud, and cybersecurity, with ramp-ups occurring primarily through large deal wins.