New Delhi: CEO pay in India’s major information technology (IT) companies has risen at a rate that is disproportionately quicker than that of new workers in the industry.
According to a Moneycontrol investigation, although CEOs’ median annual remuneration increased by 835 percent from Rs 3.37 crore in FY12 to Rs 31.5 crore in FY22, freshers’ median income package increased by only 45 percent from Rs 2.45 lakh to Rs 3.55 lakh over the same period.
The industry’s large paycheques have come into focus when the annual report of IT behemoth Infosys, released on May 26, revealed that CEO Salil Parekh’s planned compensation for his second term till March 2027 is Rs 79.75 crore annually, up 88 percent from FY22.
According to data from TeamLease Digital, the particular pay ratio between the CEO and the fresher is 1,973 for Infosys, 2,111 for Wipro, 1,020 for HCL Technologies, 676 for L&T Infotech, 644 for Tech Mahindra, and 619 for TCS.
Meanwhile, the industry is experiencing high attrition rates, with estimates ranging from 15-20 percent at the mid-to-senior levels to 30-35 percent at the junior levels, with one to five years of experience.
“This level of disparity in the pay between the CEO and a fresher shows the mercenary attitude at the top levels of the IT industry today,” said Mohandas Pai, a former chief financial officer of Infosys.
“The Indian corporate culture was always to take responsibility for everyone’s well-being in the company. Sadly, that is not the case anymore as those at the top are taking the American approach of just looking out for themselves,” he added.
According to analysts, the wage increase for IT freshers has been so small that a newcomer today may not be able to afford the same standard of living as a newcomer ten years ago.
“Just look at the inflation figures and you will see that the value of money would have fallen by half in the past 10 years. This means that a pay of even Rs 4 lakh today is the same as Rs 2 lakh a decade back,” said Pai.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
