On Tuesday, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said that it will pay out 100% variable pay for its 600,000 plus employees. The statement came days after the news surfaced that TCS had delayed June’s variable compensation payout by a month.
The decision by the IT major comes at a time when its peers Infosys and Wipro have suspended or reduced variable pay rollout for employees owing to margin pressure. It is to be noted that Infosys had given out 70% variable pay on average to employees for the June quarter amid pressure on the company’s operating margin. The reduction is reflected in the quarterly performance bonus payout.
Earlier, Wipro, too, said that employees belonging to C bands and above (managers to C-suite level) would not receive any variable payout. However, it stated that associates in A & B bands (freshers to team leader levels) would receive 70% of target variable pay for the quarter, subject to a billability threshold.
TCS has stated that variable pay is either paid in month one or two as per the standard process, and there is no delay. One hundred per cent VA is being paid for the first quarter. Previously, the company said its bonus and compensation cycle was running as planned.
During Q1 results, most Indian IT majors had indicated a strong demand environment but reported greater margin contraction due to high employee costs. To overcome this, some companies resort to cautionary measures to curtail performance payout to conserve cash.
Founded in 1968, TCS is a part of the Tata Group and operates in 149 locations across 46 countries. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is the largest IT firm in the country.