Leading software firm Infosys, living up to its reputation of being a dream employer, got over four lakh job applications last fiscal and had to reject a whopping 94 per cent of them.

But, about 28 per cent of the successful candidates, who were made job offers, did not join during the year.

"Over the last year, we received 4,00,812 applications from prospective employees and we continue to remain an employer of choice in the industry," Infosys has disclosed in its annual regulatory filing in the US, where its shares are listed at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

The company further said that out of these, around 77,000 applicants underwent written test, approximately 61,000 were interviewed and 26,200 job offers were made in the fiscal year 2009-10. This means that the company made employment offers to nearly six per cent of total applications received.

However, the company's total headcount witnessed a gross addition of only 18,905 employees, as per the same annual filing. Besides, the net addition, after taking into account the attrition during the year, to the company's payroll was 6,837 employees in the fiscal ended March 31, 2010.

Considering the gross addition numbers, the number of employees who joined the company during the year account for only 72.2 per cent of the total number of job offers -- meaning 27.8 per cent did not join.

Further, if the net addition numbers are taken into account, as much as 74 per cent of those having been made job offers during the year are not on its payroll.

Infosys also said in the annual filing that the attrition rate of its employees increased to 13.4 per cent in 2009-10, from 11.1 per cent in the previous year.

"Employees are our vital and most valuable assets. We have created a favorable work environment that encourages innovation and meritocracy. We have also set up a scalable recruitment and human resources management process, which enables us to attract and retain high caliber employees," it

Including its subsidiaries, Infosys employed approximately 1,13,800 employees at the end of last fiscal.

The company recruits new students from premier universities, colleges and institutes in India and through need-based hiring of project leaders and middle managers.

Besides, it has also begun selective recruitment at campuses in the US, the UK, Australia and China.

It claims to "rely on a rigorous selection process involving a series of aptitude tests and interviews to identify the best applicants. This selection process is continually assessed and refined based on performance tracking of past recruits.