Leading staffing company TeamLease Services on Saturday posted a 5 per cent decline in its profit after tax to Rs 29 crore for the quarter ended December 2022, against Rs 30 crore in the corresponding period the previous year. The company said its total revenue grew 14 per cent to Rs 2,018 crore, against Rs 1,767 crore in the year-ago period. Operating revenue rose 14 per cent to Rs 2,008 crore in the reviewed quarter, against Rs 1,762 crore. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) went up 16 per cent to 32. The company said, “General Staffing: We have added net 3,000 headcount in Q3FY23 with growth of 1 per cent on QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) basis and 13 per cent on YoY (year-on-year) basis. Revenue up 3 per cent QoQ and 27 per cent on YoY basis.” While headcount grew in October-November, the higher attrition in December led to only 3,000 net growth, the staffing company said in a release on Saturday. Ashok Reddy, Managing Director, TeamLease Services, commenting on the quarterly results said,”Weak festive demand in general staffing and headwinds in specialized staffing impacted our growth rates this quarter both on QoQ and YoY basis. We have started working on alternative placement of apprentices under NEEM program. Margins will be under pressure for the coming quarters given the soft demand, realisation pressure, NEEM impact. Core employee headcount has been reduced by 9 per cent on account of digitisation and tighter cost control.”