The Information Technology (IT) sector remains a preferred choice for young individuals seeking career stability. However, graduates and experts have often raised concerns regarding the low starting salaries for freshers in IT companies. This issue is particularly faced with majors companies Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and HCL. In an effort to understand this situation, CNBC recently spoke with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Milind Lakkad, who explained that salaries are offered based on talent and they encourage freshers to enhance their skills for improved compensation. According to him, upskilling can potentially double salaries, as he claimed that certain skills can even earn upto Rs 10 lakh.
In response to the question about TCS’ freshers’ salaries remaining in the Rs 3-4 lakh per annum range for years, Lakkad explained, “We actually are paying based on the talent and we actually encourage people to basically come at different cadres of talent. Whether we are starting hiring at whatever number we have, we have doubled that salary. We offer almost close to 10 lakh for innovators. We are hiring people from NITs and IITs, where we pay a lot more.”
Milind Lakkad further addressed the question about the current starting salary by stating that it has remained the same for many years. However, he highlighted that the key point is not the initial salary but rather the growth potential. The Chief Human Resources Officer explained that when new employees join TCS, they are informed that by following a certain path and enhancing their skills, their salaries can be doubled.
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Since the video surfaced online, it has gone viral and crossed over 8 lakh views on Instagram. Meanwhile, the response from social media users has been negative, as many expressed dissatisfaction with Milind Lakkad’s explanation regarding TCS’s low salaries for freshers.
A user wrote, “Real Answer: ‘Because along with our capitalist peers and government policy, we have fine tuned a weak labour market to exploit workers’.”
Another shared, “Forget even freshers, they wanna hire 5 year experienced employers for under 7 lakhs.”
An individual explained, “The Talent is not the issue, the way he replied his answer too was of 3-4 lac only, the Exploitative mindset of the Businesses is. They feel the crowd of 140 Crore is there and everybody is replaceable at the same pay. They just want to have freshers slogging for 70 hours a week and give them profits and constantly call them out for lack of talent and skill.”
Another asserted, “The harsh truth is it is a competitive environment and very difficult to find a job, many students are willing to enter as unpaid interns just to get exposure and experience. So companies are exploiting this. The salaries are even lesser for folks who are working in the same company for many years.”
Milind Lakkad’s comments came during the TCS’ quarterly results announcement, indicating a reduction in headcount for the second consecutive quarter. The data revealed a decrease of 5,680 employees from October to December 2023, bringing the total strength to 603,305.
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