With double-digit revenue growth returning to the USD 60 billion Indian IT-ITeS sector, top IT players, including TCS and Infosys, are stepping up their hiring plans for the next few quarters to meet the reviving demand in the US and European markets.

Country's largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has revised its hiring plans to add 50,000 people this fiscal against earlier target of 30,000 persons.

Similarly, rival Infosys has also announced plans of hiring 40,000 new employees in the ongoing fiscal, up from the earlier projection of 36,000.

"The IT industry is very bullish on hiring. Even if the hiring is not very substantial in the third quarter, it will definitely be in line with last few quarters," Kelly IT Resources Director Thammaiah BN told PTI.

He added that though mid-level hiring will continue, the same might not be said for entry-level recruitment.

TCS, which saw a volume growth of 11 per cent in the quarter ended September 30, 2010, said, "The company has seen significant deal closures across sectors and the deal pipeline is expected to be good."

"There was strong momentum in demand (during the September quarter)... While the macro-economic environment continues to remain uncertain, there is higher degree of confidence at the micro level," Wipro's Azim Premji said.

Staffing firm GlobalHunt said increment cycles were due for a lot of people in the industry as IT firms had either not offered salary hikes or cut compensation costs in view of the economic slowdown.

"During the recession period in 2008 and 2009, many companies either did not offer salary hikes and some went in for compensation cut. Now with demand for IT services returning to the market, companies are ramping up headcount and offering good packages to meet the demand," GlobalHunt Director Sunil Goel said.

Also, most companies hired minimally from campuses last year since clients across major markets like the US and the Europe were in recession and were cutting down on IT spends.

According to industry body Nasscom, the Indian IT industry is estimated to have added 90,000 jobs during FY'10, taking the workforce to 2.3 million professionals.

At the end of September 30, 2010, the top three players-- TCS, Infosys and Wipro -- reported about 0.41 million on their payrolls. (More) PTI PTI SR DRR MR

With demand for workforce returning, attrition rates have also gone up.

While TCS reported an attrition rate of 14.1 per cent, Infosys saw attrition rates to the tune of 17.1 per cent for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

High attrition rates are not new for the industry as it is an indication of the robustness of the sector, feel the headhunters.

"In any up-market situation, attrition rate of 16?17 per cent, especially in IT cos, is not alarming. IT companies have been facing this since 2004 onwards," Goel said.

Attrition tells growth story of IT sector and this is the time for companies to recognise and reward the talent available internally and build the bench strength for upcoming projects, he added.

On wage hikes, Goel said, "The average trend has been 20?30 per cent on current compensation and in some specific and niche skills, it has gone up to 50?60 per cent."