HCLTech has completed its FY27 fresher hiring and is likely to take on about 11,000 graduates, roughly the same number as in FY26. The company visited engineering campuses across India from July onwards.
What has changed is how it pays them. Starting salaries now range from Rs 4.5 lakh a year to Rs 18 lakh, depending on the hiring track a graduate enters.
Ram Sundararajan, Chief People Officer, HCLTech, said the company is:
“pivoting to a skills-based hiring approach with a focus on emerging technologies”
He said these are technologies in demand with clients globally.
Two hiring tracks
| Track | Who it hires | Starting salary |
|---|---|---|
| Elite Engineer | Graduates from IITs and NITs, for frontier technology roles | From Rs 18 lakh |
| Primus: Polaris tier | Graduates from Primus partner colleges, top tier | Up to Rs 10 lakh |
| Primus: Momentum tier | Graduates from Primus partner colleges, middle tier | Not disclosed |
| Primus: Ascend tier | Graduates from Primus partner colleges, entry tier | From Rs 4.5 lakh |
The Elite Engineer cadre
HCLTech has scaled up its Elite Engineer cadre this year. These hires work in semiconductors and silicon, AI, data engineering, physical AI and robotics, and quantum computing.
Sundararajan said the programme continues to play an important role in the company’s strategy to build future-ready talent. He has also spoken recently about raising the share of elite engineers in the company’s intake.
The pay premium was first set out on HCLTech’s Q3 FY26 earnings call in January 2026. On that call, Sundararajan said the company had earlier shared that its entry-level structure would have:
“the elite cadre earning 3X to 4X of the regular hires”
He put that range at Rs 18 lakh to Rs 22 lakh at the time. Reports from that call said the elite group made up about 15 to 20% of fresher hires.
How the Primus programme works
Most of the remaining intake comes through Primus, HCLTech’s campus programme, which the company has expanded. More than 60 partner engineering colleges get hiring priority. HCLTech works with them on industry readiness, including curriculum guidance, and runs expert mentorship sessions, tech talks and hackathons on their campuses.
Primus candidates are assessed on cognitive ability, coding and technical skills, and English proficiency, followed by interviews. They’re then placed in the Ascend, Momentum or Polaris tier.
The highest Primus tier tops out at Rs 10 lakh, below the Rs 18 lakh starting point for the Elite Engineer cadre.
