Infosys hikes pay across the board after Murthy's return

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys , India's second-largest software services provider, announced pay increases for all eligible staff, in its first concrete step made public after the return of founder Narayana Murthy to an executive role.

The company will increase pay by an average of 8 percent for staff in India and 3 percent for overseas staff, Infosys said in a statement to the stock exchanges after markets closed in Mumbai.

Eleven years after he was last CEO of Infosys, Murthy returned as executive chairman on June 1.

He faces the challenge of steering the company to stronger growth after two years of disappointing results that saw Infosys, once Indian IT's bellwether, lose market share to rivals such as Tata Consultancy Services and U.S.-based Cognizant Technology Solutions .

The pay increase will be effective July 1 for most staff, while the company's global sales force will see increases effective May 1, the company said.

(Reporting By Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Sunil Nair)