Fresher salaries remain stagnant since last decade though CEOs’ compensations skyrocket

Bengaluru:Fresher salaries paid by Indian companies, especially by domestic IT services companies, have again become a theme of debate with a recent Cognizant’s off-campus placement advertisement stirring a controversy across the country.

According to industry experts, freshers’ salaries of the $250 billion-strong Indian IT industry have remained stagnant for the last decade, while the compensation of CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) and other top leaders has raised to match their international counterparts.

“The salary of fresh engineering graduates remains stagnant for more than 10 years now. If you see, such compensation remains in the range of Rs 2.4 lakh- Rs 3 lakh for most companies. Even if you adjust inflation and cost of living in metro cities, there is an urgent requirement to raise the compensation levels,” said a Bengaluru-based HR expert, who works with several leading IT firms on hiring assignments.

Recently, Cognizant’s off-campus placement drive has created a social media furore. The company’s advertisement showing an entry-level salary offer of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum (LPA) for fresh graduates has prompted people to ridicule the company for such low compensation. Notably, Cognizant has maintained this salary package since 2002.

How did social media react to Cognizant’s advertisement?

Here’s how social media users reacted to the news:

• “No wonder GenAlpha wants to make reels and aspires to be a successful YouTuber,” quipped one user.
• Another user wrote, “People earn more than this by giving tuition.”
• One user remarked on the disparity by pointing out, “Just a maid who works for 30 minutes in a house makes more by working in 8-10 houses…gets more salary than an engineer.”
• Another user stated, “Street food vendors earn more.”

There were also several memes that flooded the social media on the subject.

CEO salaries of Indian IT firms:  

As compared to fresher salaries, the top-level compensation has skyrocketed in the last 10 years. For instance, CEO of Infosys, Salil Parekh drew a salary of Rs 66.25 crore in FY24, according to remuneration data compiled from annual reports. Similarly, another IT major, Wipro’s former CEO Delaporte drew over $20 million (approximately Rs 166 crore) in FY24. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO and MD, K Krithivasan drew Rs 25.36 crore in annual compensation in the financial year 2023-24.

Such compensation level of top CEOs, which is in line with international standards, has raised eyebrows among industry watchers as they seek fair salary levels for freshers factoring in rising cost of living and overall inflation.