India’s third-largest IT services company, HCLTech, has recently announced salary hikes for its junior employees, sparking discussions and anticipation among senior staff who are still awaiting their increments.
This move comes amidst a challenging demand environment and uncertainty over discretionary spending, prompting the company to delay wage hikes for mid to senior-level employees.
HCLTech Salary Hikes for Junior Employees
HCLTech has partially rolled out wage hikes for junior employees in the October-December quarter.
According to sources, employees at the E0, E1, and E2 levels, who are predominantly junior staff with up to 10 years of experience, received increments ranging from 1-2 percent.
Top performers among these junior employees were given raises of about 3-4 percent.
This stands in contrast to the company’s earlier commentary of offering an average annual pay hike of 7 percent and 12-15 percent hikes for top performers.
Despite the salary hikes for junior employees, mid to senior-level employees have not received any increments.
Employees in the E3 band and above, which includes mid to senior-level staff, are still awaiting appraisals.
Many of these employees have not received hikes for at least the past two fiscal years, and some have not seen increments for up to three years.
The delay in wage hikes for senior staff is part of the company’s strategy to manage costs and sustain profitability amid a challenging demand environment.
Company’s Response and Strategy
HCLTech’s management has reiterated its stance on the wage hikes, stating that the increments are linked to performance and the company’s review cycle.
The company’s Chief People Officer, Ramachandran Sundararajan, mentioned that the average pay hike for all colleagues in India would be around 7 percent, with top performers seeing double-digit increases in the range of 12-15 percent.
He also highlighted that the company has a higher proportion of lateral hires who become eligible for increases after completing a year of service.
HCLTech is not alone in delaying wage hikes.
Other major IT companies, including Infosys, LTIMindtree, and L&T Tech Services, have also postponed increments to manage costs and sustain profitability.
This trend reflects the broader challenges faced by the IT industry, including macroeconomic volatility, deferred client budgets, and low discretionary spending.
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