Salary hikes at IT firms

Salary hikes at IT firms on cards as COVID disruption eases

by | Nov 3, 2020 | IT Services

The salary hike announcements are in line with early signs of a growing uptake for software services and digital transformation solutions.
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Buoyed by the early signs of enormous digital transformation opportunities and demand for cloud-based solutions, salary hikes at IT firms in India appear to be returning ever since the COVID-19 disruption had made an adverse impact.

The COVID-19 led economic slowdown resulted in a monumental setback for many tech companies across the world. Low visibility of revenue growth and market gloom resulting from the pandemic forced India’s IT majors to suspend employee salary increases and promotions earlier this year. The decision was taken to control operational costs and provide business continuity, even during the crisis.

However, with optimism returning to the sector, salary hikes at IT firms, along with promotions across all grades are being considered by top Indian tech majors such as TCS, Infosys, HCL, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra. 

Timeline considered for salary hike at IT firms in India

Company               

Revenue in Rs crore (FY2020)

Current headcount

Salary hike effective from

TCS

1.62 lakh

453,540

1 October 2020

Infosys

93,594

240,208

1 January 2021

HCL

71,265

150,000

1 October 2020 (Junior staff)

1 January 2021

(Senior staff)

Wipro

63,862

180,000

1 December 2020

Tech Mahindra

38,060

125,000

Early 2021

Transitioning to the new normal

At the beginning of the year, most businesses put their energies on deploying a thriving remote work environment and delivering consistent services.  However, beginning in the second quarter, companies have accelerated the implementation of digital transformation solutions and increased spending to meet customer expectations to remain competitive in the current environment.

These evolutionary dynamics are having a positive impact on these tech majors. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the first Indian IT major to announce a salary increase for its 453,540 employees as of October 1, 2020. Quickly after the nationwide lockdown announcement, TCS rolled-out Secure Borderless Workspaces Framework, which instantly enabled 90% of its employees to work effectively and meet client expectations remotely. TCS’s consolidated revenue from operations for Q2 stood at Rs 40,135 crores, clocking a 3% year-on-year growth.

The IT Major deferred salary increases in April this year to ensure that employees are not laid off.

For over 2,400,000 Infosys employees, salary hikes are expected to stay the same as in previous years. In recent years, Infosys has rapidly increased its digital and cloud capabilities that have helped it reach 2.2% revenue growth year-on-year, even in challenging times. The company is banking big on the large-scale digital transformation deal wins that materialized recently to accomplish higher than the average growth in the upcoming quarters. (See: Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities)

HCL tech joined the list recently by announcing salary hikes for its junior staff from October 2020 and senior staff from January 2021. The company’s net profit stood at Rs 3,142 crore for the September quarter, up 7.4% sequentially, and 18.5% year-on-year.

India’s fourth-largest IT Services provider, Wipro, witnessed a strong second quarter, which resulted in better margins and robust revenue growth. It celebrated the performance by announcing salary increases from December this year for 80% of its 1.85 lakh workforce. Throughout 2020, the company made a significant investment in acquisitions that could lead to substantial gains in the fiscal year 2022. (See: With Encore buy, Wipro eyes DX edge in fintech)

Tech Mahindra has announced that its employees’ salary increases will begin next year on a phased basis. The company states that the hikes for junior-most employees will be implemented first, followed by senior employees.

Big boost from fast-track digital transformation roadmaps

The sudden spike of COVID-19 cases compelled organizations to enforce fully work-from-home environments. To minimize the impact and support customers virtually within the new standard, organizations have stepped up their digital engagement strategies. The pandemic’s complex challenges are placing large and small businesses in a delicate situation that can only be solved by redefining work and developing agile business models.

During COVID-19, organizations’ dependence on digital solutions, has peaked at new heights, and at BM NXT research, we do not see the interest in digital technologies waning even when the pandemic ends. Businesses worldwide are expected to harness digital channels and continue modernizing their IT infrastructure to innovate faster and reimagine the business landscape. (See: AI-driven analytics is CIOs’ mantra in the new normal)

Going ahead, there will be a continuous rise in the adoption of cloud-based solutions and new-age technologies such as machine to machine (M2M),  artificial intelligence, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and data analytics amongst enterprises. Almost every industry and sector will need to identify new seamless digital communication channels to interact with their customers. This will further open up new revenue and growth opportunities for the IT Services firm to help enterprises build their digital resilience for any such future incident.

 

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Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, RK Singh. Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

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Summary of the study findings

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  • 11.25 times more likely to have their groundwater sources contaminated (12.7 times more from contaminants traceable to humans alone)
  • 1.13 times more likely to have their soil contaminated
  • 1.48 times more likely to have food contaminated and 2.68 times more likely to have household drinking water contaminated.
  • The study findings indicated that these substantial reductions may potentially be attributed to the improvement in sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as supportive systems such as regular monitoring and behaviour change messaging, which have all been critical aspects of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).

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  • Of this spend equivalent, cash expenditure on IEC activities spent by the Government, private sector, and the development community was estimated to be between INR 3,500 – 4,000 crores.
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  • An average person living in rural India was exposed to between 2,500 – 3,300 SBM related messages over the last five years.
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Nitin Gadkari took charge of the office of the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways in New Delhi today. He also holds the portfolio of the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Gadkari was Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in the previous government.

Gadkari is a member of Lok Sabha since May, 2014. He was earlier a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council during 1989-2014. He was Minister for PWD in Maharashtra Government during 1995 to 1999.

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