Infosys worst hit in high-pay bracket

CHURN IN IT FIRMS

Infosys lost 28% of its executives last year; followed by TCS with 10%.

The highest attrition rate among employees in the Rs 2 lakh-and-above earnings bracket has been witnessed by Infosys Technologies Ltd in 2004-05, when rated among the top three information technology companies.

Infosys saw over 28 per cent of its senior executives leaving the company last year. Next is Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) with 10.2 per cent, followed by Wipro Ltd with 5.8 per cent.

Of Infosys' 165 top executives, who were paid an average monthly remuneration (which includes salary, commission, allowances and medical perquisites) amounting to at least Rs 2 lakh, 47 resigned last year.

In this category, both TCS and Wipro"" the other two global IT majors""lost five executives each.

While TCS had 49 top executives, Wipro had 89 last year.

A majority of the top executives in Infosys left in the first quarter of the last year. Most of them are believed to have left for new opportunities offering higher salaries. Some of the top personnel had also opted for overseas assignments with other companies, IT industry sources said.

This is in stark contrast with Infosys' overall attrition level, which had fallen to 9.7 per cent in 2004-05 from around 10.5 per cent recorded during the previous year. The company employs over 36,000 people.

"Overall, the company has one of the highest attrition levels in the industry. Considering the fact that its operations are spread over various geographies, a 9.7 per cent attrition is a good count," a HR consultant said. Infosys executives were not available for comment as the company was said to be observing the "silent period" ahead of its first quarterly results. The IT major will announce its results on Tuesday.