Wipro raises salary 7% in step with TCS, Infosys

Increases onshore staff salary by 2%; high-performers' raise substantially better

Wipro, India’s third-largest information technology (IT) services company, announced a salary increase for its employees largely in line with those offered by its peers. The Azim Premji-led company, which follows a June appraisal cycle, said the average increase in salary for employees located in offshore locations was in the range of seven per cent while for those in onshore locations it was two per cent.

For high-performers, the quantum of raise was substantially higher, Saurabh Govil, global head (human resources), Wipro, said in a statement.

The revised salary will be effective June 1.

Infosys has already increased compensation packages with effect from April 1. In case of Infosys, the average increase for the offshore employees was 6.5 per cent while for onshore, it was two per cent, similar to what Wipro announced. Infosys high-performers were given an average wage hike of around nine per cent.

In April, India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also increased employee salaries. While for offshore employees, the average raise was eight per cent, those located in onsite locations got a raise of around two per cent. Among large offshore-centric IT services companies, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant is yet to come out with numbers. Company sources said the process is on and is expected to be announced with effect from July 1.

Apart from the wage increases, Wipro has tweaked the compensation structure for employees at junior and middle management level by enhancing fixed-pay component in their salaries. This is expected to improve their take-home salary.

In the sector, the variable component in the salary is quite high, and in some cases it is as high as 50 per cent of the overall pay packet. In 2013, a similar exercise was carried out by its cross-town peer Infosys with an aim of increasing the fixed component in the salary.

As on March 31, Wipro had 158,217 employees for its IT services business. The company, of late, is trying to de-link revenue growth from headcount by rolling out automation tools and technologies like cognitive intelligence platform, Holmes.