IT behemoth Wipro’s strategy to turn itself more global and local is paying off.

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As of March, 39 per cent of the Bangalore-headquartered firm’s overseas employees were people from the same market, up 10 per cent from the previous year.

Wipro HR chief Pratik Kumar told Financial Chronicle that he expected at least half of Wipro’s onsite population to be locals over the next two years. At present, about 18,000 people, out of a total headcount of 108,071, are based in overseas locations, including the US, Europe, Australia, China and Japan.

As part of the company’s strategy, three-fourth of our overseas hirings have been locals in the past four to five quarters. “While we expect the percentage to rise a further 5 points during this financial year, we should be able to touch the halfway mark (in local employees) in two years,” he added.

The company saw a net addition of 11,800 people in FY10, taking the total headcount past the 1 lakh mark, the third Indian IT firm to do so. However, with the market opening up, attrition rate rose to 12 per cent during the year and 17 per cent in the March quarter.

For the present financial year, Kumar said the firm plans to hire between 10,000 to 11,000 freshers — both engineering and non-engineering students — apart from need-based lateral recruitments. He also added that if the demand environment warrants, the intake will be higher.

“We are going to a lesser number of engineering colleges (100 now from 400 institutes earlier). Our ability to engage with colleges is better and we are looking to increase our yield from these campuses,” he said.

Having given a salary hike in February, the HR head ruled out another round as of now.

However, he added that there could be some targeted increases in selected markets. Promotions will go ahead in June as usual. Employees above mid-management levels will also be getting restricted stock units in a quarter’s time, he added.