Third time in a row, TCS slashes variable pay for senior employees

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has slashed variable pay for its senior employees for the January-March quarter, reports MoneyControl. This will be the third quarter in the row when the country’s largest software exporter has cut variable pay for certain employees. The report quotes a TCS employee who said “For senior employees, variable pay forms 15-20 percent of the CTC (cost to company). They (the company) have been deducting the QVA for over a year now. In the last quarter, I got about 20 percent of my variable pay out”.
“The junior level employees either have no variable component in their salary or the percentage and corresponding amount is quite small,” the employee told the publication.
The company had previously cut variable pay of senior staff for July-September and October-December quarters in 2024. Some employees then received only 20-40% of their quarterly variable allowances (QVA).

TCS changed its variable pay policy last year, linking it to how often employees come to the office. The new rule, which came into effect in April 2024, sets different payout levels based on attendance.
Employees who come to the office less than 60% of the time will not be eligible for any variable pay. Those with attendance between 60% and 75% will get 50% of their variable pay. Employees who attend between 75% and 85% of the time will receive 75%. Only employees who come to the office more than 85% of the time will get the full variable pay, the rule then said.

Last month, TCS announced that it will defer employee salary hikes that were scheduled to begin in April 2025, citing global economic uncertainty and tariff concerns.
Speaking at the company's post-Q4 earnings press conference in Mumbai last month, Milind Lakkad, Chief Human Resources Officer, said “Because of the uncertain environment, we will decide during the year on wage hikes. It can be at any time, depending on business”.