Indian IT companies to loosen purse to retain talent
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Indian IT companies to loosen purse to retain talent
Bangalore: India's top software companies are doling out mid-term salary hikes and promotions or are guaranteeing a larger share of variable pay to staff in the coming months in a mad scramble to retain talent. A raft of firms led by big names such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro are planning some or all of these measures in a bid to help employees battle rising inflation, and, in the process, manage their own attrition levels, reports The Economic Times. Some of the firms had already declared salary increments and promotions during the first few months of this year, with average pay raises ranging from 8 percent to 12 percent. But with rising attrition and talent scarce, monetary and other incentives have staged a comeback, although it helps that the sector is on the road to recovery after a tumultuous period in 2008 and 2009. Infosys, the country's second-largest software exporter, plans to give promotions to its staff across levels in October this year. Those elevated will also be given promotion-related pay hikes. The company, which did not increase staff salaries in April last year due to the global economic slowdown, gave out salary hikes last October and in April this year. "The intent is to retain employees and keep them engaged. They should feel adequately rewarded and valued. We ensure this by keeping the compensation structure in line with the current market standards," said Infosys Head of Human Resources Nandita Gurjar. While Infosys goes down the promotion route, its bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is looking to pay a larger share of employees variable pay entitlements to retain its employees. For the quarter to end-June, it has already paid employees 100 percent of their variable pay. Wipro is adopting a strategy similar to TCS. The country?s No.3 IT firm has assured staff that they will get a guaranteed variable pay of 100 percent for every quarter this year.The Bangalore-based company had given an average salary hike of 9 percent in February this year and promoted 20,000 of its junior staff. Wipro could also roll out another round of salary increases in the next couple of months, said a Delhi-based HR consultant, requesting anonymity. Saurabh Govil, senior vice-president for HR at Wipro, said there was 'nothing on the table right now', but the company could consider salary increases depending on factors such as the ongoing inflationary situation and attrition levels in the coming months. Among other firms, HCL Technologies, Zensar Technologies and Tech Mahindra declared salary hikes for the current year, effective July 1. All the three companies follow a July to June financial year. Staff attrition or employees jumping ship for better job offers, long a scourge for India?s IT sector, had eased during the economic downturn triggered by the global economic crisis, but has become worrisome since the beginning of 2010. India?s IT sector battled attrition rates of up to 40% during the boom years of 2004-05. Most IT companies have reported attrition rates of up to 20% in the first half of 2010, and in some cases, even higher. HR consultants say the need to manage attrition is the main driver for giving mid-term salary increases and out-of-turn promotions.

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