Bangalore, July 13 (IANS) The attrition rate in India's second largest IT bellwether Infosys Technologies shot up to a whopping 16 percent during the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal (2010-11), the company said Tuesday.

'With the market opening up, attrition has increased this quarter. We have taken several steps, including a compensation hike to reduce it,' Board Member T.V. Mohandas Pai said in a statement here.

The global software major's attrition increased to 15.8 percent from 11.1 percent a year ago and sequentially from 13.4 percent a quarter ago.

Though the gross addition during the first quarter under review was 8,859 people, the net addition was 1,026 only, as 7,833 employees quit for various reasons, including involuntary attrition.

At the end of June, the company and its subsidiaries had 114,822 employees as against 103,905 a year ago and 113,796 at the end previous quarter (Jan-March).

Of the total, software professionals are 108,495 compared to 96,334 a year ago and 106,864 a quarter ago.

Gross addition was 9,313 in the previous quarter and 3,538 a year ago, while net addition was 3,914 and minus 945 a year ago.

'One of the steps we are taking to reduce attrition is to enhance lateral hiring,' Pai added.

The company currently has 2,942 lateral employees as against 2,041 a quarter ago and 390 a year ago.