Infosys delays salary hike until July, wait could be longer for senior employees: Report

Though the appraisal process might be in full swing, IT giant Infosys has revealed that employees may have to wait for a bit longer to see a hike in their paychecks. The salary hike for lower and mid-level employees has been deferred until July, while the senior level employees will see a further delay.

Employees with less than eight years of experience can expect a hike sometime in July, chief operating officer UB Pravin Rao told the Economic Times. He also explained that those with more experience could expect a hike in the next quarter.

Rao also said that Infosys has adopted a few cost reduction measures, but these have been taken up after consulting the employees. He also said that those measures that did not suit the employees are no longer applicable. Last year, Infosys employees got a 6-12 percent pay hike.

While Infosys has been talking about how its measures are employee friendly, not everyone seems to agree with the idea. "They have delayed the salary hike. They are also raising the cost of parking in the campus and facilities fees. So even if you get a hike, you will end up giving most of it back to the company," an employee told the daily.

Meanwhile, IT giants like Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and Capgemini have been in the news for the reported layoffs. It was earlier reported that Infosys was planning to lay off employees in India and in turn intended to hire about 10,000 workers in the United States over a period of two years. The decision was even lauded by Ninio Fetalvo, a White House spokesman.

"We're glad to see companies like Infosys see opportunity in the American economy again," Fetalvo had told the Washington Post. However, the Bengaluru-headquartered firm refuted the rumours of the layoffs and said that it did not intend to cut jobs in its home country.

It said that the sackings were part of a performance-based appraisal, which happens every year. "A continued low feedback on performance could lead to certain performance actions, including separation of an individual and this is done only after feedback," a company spokesperson told PTI.

Reiterating this Rao told ET: "I would like to put to rest any speculation around planned layoffs. As has been the case in the past, we will primarily see some performance-based exits."

Not just Infosys, another IT giant Tech Mahindra too has announced in February that it was suspending the appraisal of its senior employees, which in turn would delay the salary hike.

"We thought the wage increases would be very bad but we did not expect this. At least there are no large-scale layoffs so far. That was also a worry," a Tech Mahindra employee told the ET.