For the first time in many quarters, global software major Infosys hired less techies and added lesser during the third quarter (October-December) of fiscal 2016-17, thanks to disruptive automation.

"Automation has slowed down the number of people we have in the third quarter (Q3). Our hiring for the first nine months (April-December) of this fiscal (2016-17) was 5,407 as against 17,857 in the like period of the previous fiscal (2015-16)," admitted Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka on Friday.

Clarifying that automation was one of the key drivers of the company's strategy, Sikka told reporters here that it (automation) had freed about 2,700 of its techies from over-lapping and time consuming work.

"Automation does not eliminate jobs but weans away people from equivalent work or same jobs," asserted Sikka.

Though the outsourcing firm hired 9,120 people during the quarter under review (Q3), net addition was a mere 66, as 9,186 techies left the company.

As a result, the total number of employees of the company and its subsidiaries declined sequentially to 199,763 in the third quarter from 199,829 a quarter ago.

Hiring for the quarter (Q3) was also less than 12,717 people in the second quarter (July-September) and 14,027 in the same period year ago.

Similarly, about 4,000 laterals were hired in Q3 as against 5,752 a quarter ago and 6,115 a year ago.

Accordingly, attrition of the parent company declined to 14.9 per cent in Q3 from 15.7 per cent a quarter ago but increased from 13.4 per cent a year ago.