Wipro sheds 6,716 employees as Q2 profit falls 1.9 per cent

MUMBAI: Wipro is trimming its workforce while turning up the volume on brand building, as the IT services major navigates a quarter of revenue growth, softer profits and weaker large deal bookings. The Bengaluru-headquartered company reduced its headcount by 6,716 employees in the September quarter of FY27, even as its consolidated marketing and brand-building expenses climbed 44.3 per cent year on year to Rs 129.9 crore.

Wipro’s workforce stood at 2,36,328 at the end of the September quarter, down from 2,43,044 in the preceding quarter. Its voluntary attrition rate, measured on a trailing 12-month basis, edged down to 13.8 per cent from 13.9 per cent. The figures point to a smaller workforce and marginally lower employee attrition, although the company’s reported numbers do not specify the reasons behind the headcount reduction.

Marketing and brand-building spending moved in the opposite direction. Wipro spent Rs 129.9 crore on these activities in Q2 FY27, compared with Rs 90 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. For the first half of FY27, the expenditure reached Rs 245.2 crore, up from Rs 178.3 crore in the year-ago period. That represents an increase of Rs 66.9 crore, or approximately 37.5 per cent.

The spending increase came as Wipro reported consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 24,752.7 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 9.1 per cent from Rs 22,697.3 crore a year earlier. Revenue also grew 1.1 per cent sequentially from Rs 24,478.6 crore in the June quarter.

Profit, however, failed to keep pace with the top line. Consolidated net profit declined 1.9 per cent year on year to Rs 3,200.6 crore from Rs 3,262.6 crore. Compared with the preceding quarter, profit fell 4.7 per cent. The divergence between revenue growth and lower earnings shows that a bigger business did not translate into a stronger bottom line during the quarter.

Within its core IT services business, revenue stood at $2.61 billion. This represented a 0.3 per cent increase year on year in reported terms, but a 0.1 per cent sequential decline. On a constant-currency basis, IT services revenue was flat quarter on quarter and grew 0.6 per cent year on year, indicating relatively modest underlying growth.

Profitability within the IT services business showed some improvement over the previous quarter. The operating margin rose to 16.5 per cent from 16 per cent in Q1 FY27. However, it remained 0.2 percentage points below the year-ago level, suggesting that the sequential recovery has not fully restored last year’s margin performance.

Deal bookings provided a more challenging signal. Total bookings fell 22.9 per cent sequentially to $2.595 billion in constant-currency terms. Large-deal bookings, an important indicator of the scale of contracts won, declined 58.6 per cent to $674 million. The fall suggests that the quarter’s revenue growth was accompanied by a substantial slowdown in new bookings compared with the preceding three months.

Cash generation, on the other hand, strengthened. Operating cash flow rose 61.3 per cent sequentially to Rs 5,300 crore, equivalent to 165.8 per cent of net income. Earnings per share increased 4.2 per cent year on year to Rs 3.23, offering another measure of performance alongside the decline in reported consolidated net profit.

Wipro is also looking to artificial intelligence to support its next phase of growth. CEO and managing director Srini Pallia said the company’s investments were beginning to help it enter new markets, add clients and deepen existing relationships.

“The strategic investments we have been making are beginning to deliver results,” Pallia said.

He described AI as a long-term growth driver for technology and business transformation, pointing to momentum across Wipro’s AI-Native Unit and its wider AI offerings portfolio. The company is seeking to use these capabilities to expand its role in enterprise technology projects as clients explore ways to automate processes, improve operations and apply intelligence to business decisions.

During the September quarter, Wipro secured engagements involving AI-enabled enterprise solutions, automated business processes, supply chain intelligence and operational transformation across multiple industries. The company did not disclose the individual contract values in the information provided, making it difficult to quantify how much these engagements contributed to the quarter’s overall bookings.

The December quarter will offer another indication of how that strategy is translating into business. Wipro expects IT services revenue to range between $2.571 billion and $2.625 billion. The guidance provides a forward-looking range for the business, although the company’s recent decline in large-deal bookings remains a key metric to watch alongside revenue and margins.

For Wipro, Q2 FY27 was a quarter of contrasts: revenue advanced, operating cash flow improved and the IT services margin recovered sequentially, but net profit slipped, deal bookings weakened and the workforce contracted by thousands. Meanwhile, higher marketing expenditure signals a greater outlay on brand building even as the company pursues AI-led opportunities. Whether those investments can translate into sustained growth will become clearer as the next quarter unfolds.