Capgemini raises fresher salary by 20%, adds 25,000 more people this year

Capgemini looks at leveraging India base for driving innovation

In a move that is seen as the growing importance of India as a global delivery and innovation base, French information technology (IT) services and consulting major Capgemini has raised fresher salary by 20 per cent, while increasing its headcount in the country aggressively.

In the 2018 campus hiring season, the company said it is offering between 15-20 per cent more compensation to the campus recruits at around Rs 380,000. The company said it was expecting to add around 25,000 more people to its India team on a gross basis, including freshers as well as lateral hires. After its acquisition of iGate, Capgemini already has a significant presence in India, with close to 106,000 employees - which are more than half of its global workforce.

“We hire across IITs, IIITs, NITs, and premium colleges, apart from selecting students from our strategic colleges. Between 2018 and 2019, we will hire at least 20 per cent more,” said Ashwin Yardi, chief executive officer (CEO) at Capgemini India. “Across the board, we are increasing the compensation of entry-level (employees) by at least 20 per cent,” he added.

After staying stagnant for almost a decade plus, the fresher salary offered by the IT services companies is starting to see some upward revision, albeit selectively. India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services, for example, has announced close to double the salary of select recruits who will work on cutting-edge technologies.

However, those numbers will be limited to around top 1,000 candidates to whom the company is selecting through a national qualifying test. Similarly, Larsen & Toubro Technology Services, an Indian services company, has also announced to increase fresher salary by close to 25 per cent. The average fresher salary in the industry, however, stands around Rs 350,000.

According to Capgemini, it has different compensation stacks based on the category of institutes. Salaries for new recruits from base colleges now stand at Rs 380,000 after this upward revision.

“We want to make India at the forefront of driving innovations in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, analytics, among others,” said Yardi, who was previously the chief operating officer for Capgemini India before taking up the new role.

Capgemini, which already has an applied innovation exchange in Mumbai to drive innovation in new technology areas, is also planning to launch another one in Hyderabad.

With the new CEO at the helm, the company now wants to renew its focus on India as a growth market. “Our focus in the Indian market has two-three dimensions. To a large extent, we want to work with our global clients. We also want to focus on our differentiated offerings in sectors such as retail, automotive, financial services for private enterprises.”