BANGALORE: IT major Infosys has reportedly increased the salary of its top executives but the base scale for entry-level software engineers has not changed for more than five years.
The company started its higher salaries’ package to newly-appointed CEO Vishal Sikka who will get Rs 30 crore ($5.08 mn) annual pay package when compared to $23,000 (Rs 14 lakh) taken by his predecessor S D Shibulal.
Infosys pays around Rs 23-27,000 for entry-level software engineers with BE and Rs 12-15,000 for entry-level BSc freshers, according to sources. According to experts, starting salaries offered by other IT companies are in the same range.
Infosys reported attrition rates of 19.5 per cent in the April-June quarter compared to 16.9 per cent reported a year ago in the same period and from 18.7 per cent reported in the previous quarter. “We added about 11,500 employees (gross) in the last quarter. Net addition, however, was only approximately 800-900 people as attrition continues to remain high,” Shibulal had said while announcing the first quarter performance.
“It’s just surprising that IT salaries for freshers has not changed in 5-6 years,” Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of HR consultancy firm, TeamLease told Express.
The starting salary could also depend on training performance, sources added.
Sabharwal adds that salary increase for senior-level and freshers cannot be compared as they both possess different abilities and that they come under different categories.
Infosys’s CEO package is much higher compared to its better performing peers like N Chandrasekaran, CEO of TCS who drew Rs 18.68 crore in Fy14; Francisco D’Souza, CEO of Cognizant, earned around $1.5 mn in 2013 and Wipro’s $1.1 mn to their CEO in Fy14.
“The entry-level salaries for freshers may not get any higher due to ample demand. But higher salaries for top level or laterals is higher due to shortage,” Karan Taurani, an independent IT analyst said and added that companies are willing to go the ‘extra mile’ to accommodate top level people for the value add.
He said that lateral hiring has picked up in the last two years as companies want more people who have experience when compared to a fresher who has to be trained from scratch.
According to reports, Infosys has hiked its salaries for top executives. Many top executives who were previously in the Rs 1.2-2 crore salary range are said to have jumped to the Rs 6 crore range, it was reported. Multiple attempts to contact Infosys did not yield any response.
Other software exporters like TCS reported attrition levels of around 12 per cent. Infosys lags behind even in utilisation at 72.9 per cent when compared to 85.3 per cent (excluding trainees) at TCS.