Notwithstanding the pressure on the IT job market from fears of an economic slowdown, IT major Infosys [Get Quote] has become the second technology firm in the country to cross the one lakh employee mark after industry leader TCS [Get Quote].

Infosys and its subsidiaries added 10,117 employees in the second quarter of this fiscal that ended on September 30, taking the total head-count to 1,00,306 employees, Infosys said on October 10 after announcing its quarterly results. "We reached the milestone of crossing 1,00,000 employees," Head HRD and Education Research and Member of Board T V Mohandas Pai said.

This puts Infosys in the league of another Indian IT Giant, TCS, which had over 1,16,308 employees on its payrolls at the end of the previous quarter. The net addition for Infosys stood at 5,927 during the second quarter. During the quarter, the IT job market was under pressure due to the global financial crisis. Many IT firms had also postponed some of the new recruitments for next quarter.

Analysts feel that due to a slowdown in the US economy, Indian IT companies, who mostly depend on the US market for their revenue, had postponed joining dates of new recruits, raising doubts about their future. However, the fact that India's IT giant has joined the big league of one lakh plus employers would send some positive signals in the job market, they added.

The software major today announced a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,432 crore (Rs 14.32 billion) for the second quarter, a 30.18 per cent growth over the corresponding period a year-ago.

However, the results failed to cheer up its shares, which dipped to an intra-day low of Rs 1,040, down over 17 per cent from its previous closing price.

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