Maintaining the tempo of its hiring spree, Infosys Technologies Ltd is set to hire about 800-1000 software engineers during the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal year 2003-04.

Even in the face of challenging environment and uncertainty throughout the fiscal year 2002-03, the IT bellwether created a record of sorts by hiring a whopping 5,509 (gross addition), including 1,427 laterals as against a net addition of just 907 professionals during the previous fiscal year of 2001-02.

As a result, at the end of March 31, 2003, Infosys' total employee strength has shot up to a high of 15,356, including 14,001 software professionals. The attrition rate, however, was a mere 6.9 per cent.

"Keeping in view our long-term requirements, spread over 12-18 months, we will continue to hire people as per the demand generated from quarter-to-quarter," declared Infosys' chief operating officer S Gopalakrishnan in Bangalore on Thursday, when the company's results were announced.

The official, however, declined to reveal the number of employees to be recruited during the next three quarters.

Beating its own revised guidance and estimates for the fiscal 2002-03, Infosys was able to maintain a consistent volume growth in revenue terms though it just about managed to meet its earning projections, thanks to pressure on billing rates and rupee appreciation.

Going by its outlook for the new fiscal year (2003-04), which projects a modest revenue growth of 25-27 per cent, the company is likely to maintain its recruitment drive as in the previous quarters, which has been averaging about 1000 per quarter.