Bengaluru: LTIMindtree has resumed fresher hiring, aiming to onboard around 5,000 freshers this fiscal year. Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty affecting demand visibility in the IT services sector, LTIMindtree remains optimistic about talent acquisition and has returned to campus hiring this quarter. CEO Venu Lambu highlighted that the company is pursuing a “people-first, client-first” strategy—anchored in AI-driven transformation and a robust fresher hiring pipeline—to navigate current market challenges.In an interview with TOI, Lambu confirmed that LTIMindtree onboarded 1,600 freshers in the June quarter alone and plans to hire between 4,000 and 5,000 freshers over the course of the year. “We restarted fresher hiring this quarter and will continue adding more throughout the year. We have a comprehensive programme in place to train, upskill, and involve them in project shadowing,” he said.While many industry peers are tightening utilisation policies and reassessing bench strength, LTIMindtree’s utilisation remains high at 88.1%. “To sustain growth, we need more people. In fact, I’d prefer to bring utilisation down slightly,” the CEO added.Regarding salary hikes and promotions, the company stated that the next appraisal cycle’s decisions will be made between now and Sept. LTIMindtree last implemented raises in Oct. “It’s not that we haven’t made decisions—it’s just that the cycle allows time. Employees will be updated in due course,” Lambu clarified.In response to industry concerns about declining fresh graduate quality, LTIMindtree reiterated its commitment to structured onboarding. “We treat all our people as valuable assets. We emphasise continuous skilling and have invested heavily in AI-focused capabilities that benefit both employees and clients,” the CEO said.LTIMindtree is also passing on productivity improvements from AI adoption to its customers. Its proprietary platform, Blueverse, has already contributed to significant early wins in large deals. These efficiencies are boosting internal operations as well, with AI-driven initiatives delivering a 50-basis point margin improvement and targeting an additional 100 basis points in upcoming quarters. Despite global economic headwinds, the company remains “cautiously optimistic,” expecting to approach double-digit year-on-year growth in the second half of the financial year. Operating margins grew sequentially by 50 basis points to 14.3%. The mid-tier IT firm reported strong client metrics, with the number of clients generating over $1 million in annual revenue rising 14% year-on-year to 404. The company had 741 active clients as of June 30. LTIMindtree’s revenue grew modestly by 0.8% sequentially in the June quarter and 4.4% year-on-year in constant currency, supported by strong deal momentum despite a cautious global IT services environment. Its operating margin improved by 50 basis points sequentially to 14.3%.European operations demonstrated the strongest performance with 9.7% sequential growth, whilst North America, LTIMindtree’s primary market, increased by 1.8%. “I think we had a good start. That means we expanded our revenue, we expanded our margins and I see the same momentum to continue as we go into the next few quarters of the year. We are working towards a plan where I would like to see if we can come very close to the double-digit year-on-year growth sometime in the second half and at the same time increase our margin by 100 basis points. I think we did a good job at the end of the year,” Lambu said.Its order book rose to $1.6 billion, up 17% year-on-year. European operations demonstrated the strongest performance with 9.7% sequential growth, whilst North America, LTIMindtree’s primary market, increased by 1.8%. “All of the large deals, there is significant infusion of AI and that’s where we are committing productivity. That’s how most of the last deals are sort of shaping up. Number two is that in the existing business where we are serving customers, we’re looking at opportunities where we can do more for them with less effort. So in a sense, if we just look at it as productivity gain being passed as it is, then that’s one way of looking at it. But if I can actually construct the engagements that is okay. Can I do more work for them with less? If that is possible, I actually get more work coming my way,” he added.
