The information technology firms in the country are hiring freshers to reduce average salary and age. The companies expect the strategy would improve their margins.
IT companies such as Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Mphasis are highly bullish on young recruits.
In calendar 2005, Infosys topped the chart. Of the total recruits, 96.3 were freshers compared with 86 per cent during the previous calendar year.
Fifty-nine per cent of Infosys' IT services personnel have less than three years of work experience, while the average age an Infosian was around 25.8 year, which is two-four years younger to its peers.
Freshers' recruitment in TCS at 58 per cent (around 54 per cent in 2004) and Mphasis BFL at 45 per cent (around 25 per cent in 2004) also mirrored this trend, according to a HR study conducted by CLSA.
Recruiting freshers results in better margins, and every six months of average age delta "causes a 2 per cent difference in salary cost and nearly 100 basis points in margins," it said.
Some other IT firms, however, are not that bullish on recruitment of freshers. Wipro and Satyam Computers recruited 52 and 49 per cent freshers during the year.
This was way below their previous year's recruitment of 69 per cent and 59 per cent.
The trend of preferring freshers against experience personnel is expected to continue in the current calendar year also. TCS and Infosys have visited 300 campuses each in 2005. Satyam visited 208 campuses, Wipro 30 and Patni only 75. Mphasis has also begun active campus recruitments.
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