Wipro Revamps Bench Policy as Indian IT Firms Shift Toward Leaner Talent Pools

Policy Changes

Wipro has updated its bench policy with new time limits for employees without billable projects, effective October 1. Workers in Band 2 and below can stay unallocated for up to 180 calendar days, while the limit is 45 days for Band 3 and above. Employees with disabilities have a 75-day unallocated period. Under employment contracts, staff in Band 2 and below who remain unallocated for 180 days can be separated from the company. Wipro did not respond to queries from The Hindu regarding the update.

Industry Bench Trends

Recent industry estimates show that average bench time at large IT-services companies dropped to 35 to 45 days in 2025, compared with 45 to 60 days in FY20 and FY21. The proportion of employees on the bench has also fallen to between 2% and 5%, down from 10% to 15% previously. Companies historically used a strategic bench as a buffer against fluctuating project demand, accepting lower utilisation when anticipating future growth.

Historical Shifts and Internal Programmes

Past downturns also prompted tighter controls, with Wipro reducing its bench from around 11,000 to 7,000 employees in late 2009 under then CEO Suresh Vaswani, and HCL Technologies adopting a just-in-time hiring approach under then CEO Vineet Nayar during the 2008-09 downturn. Over the years, firms have launched alternative programmes instead of keeping idle benches. Infosys introduced its Zero Bench programme in 2015 to create an internal marketplace, and Persistent Systems created TeXT to engage unassigned staff in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics projects.

The Role of Specialised Skills

Artificial intelligence is changing workforce planning by putting a growing premium on specialised skills and reskilling. TCS reported over 2.7 lakh employees with advanced AI and machine-learning proficiency in its FY2025-26 annual report, while Wipro adopted a Skill as a Currency approach and Infosys focused on AI-driven upskilling. An available employee may not be immediately deployable if their specific skill set does not match the active project pipeline.

Context

IT services companies manage employee benches to balance workforce capacity against uneven client project demand and maintain operational margins. Maintaining unallocated staff incurs salary costs without generating billable revenue, which explains why firms tightly manage bench strength during periods of weaker market demand.