Top 5 IT firms feel the heat—but their richest CEO gets a raise

HCL Technologies Ltd’s C. Vijayakumar not only retained his title as the highest-paid CEO in the group, with a 5.7% raise last year to ₹88.97 crore ($10.85 million), but also secured a sharply higher pay package for the next five years after being reappointed as CEO and managing director.

The jump in executive compensation comes as the industry battles declining profitability and rising layoffs. Three of the five—Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro—reported shrinking operating margins in the April–June quarter. Tata Consultancy Services, the largest of the group, plans to cut 2% of its workforce to rein in costs.

Infosys has forecast its slowest expansion in a decade, while TCS just reported its weakest growth in four years, as macroeconomic uncertainty and a pullback in large outsourcing deals weigh on demand.

New term, bigger package

According to HCLTech’s FY25 annual report released on Saturday, over three-fifths of Vijayakumar’s earnings— ₹57.1 crore—came from exercising stock options. Another ₹15.83 crore came from bonuses, incentives and variable pay, while his fixed salary stood at ₹16.07 crore.

The pay bump follows a strong performance by HCLTech, which posted 4.3% full-year revenue growth to $13.8 billion—making it the fastest growing among the top five IT firms for the second consecutive year.

That performance has now led to Vijayakumar’s reappointment for a third five-year term, lasting until 31 March 2030. His next term begins on 1 September 2025. The company board cited his “exceptional track record of leadership, superior financial execution, strategic foresight, and commitment to long-term value creation.”

Going forward, Vijayakumar is expected to take home a total of $18.6 million ( ₹152 crore) annually—a 71% jump over his current package.

His fixed pay has nearly doubled to $6.28 million, while his yearly bonus of $3.5 million—also nearly twice the current figure—will depend on three metrics: revenue targets (50%), operating margins (40%), and meeting “strategic goals” (10%).

In addition, long-term incentives worth $8.82 million will be disbursed in tranches over the next five years, tied to revenue growth, total shareholder return, and free cash flow as a percentage of net income—representing a 75% hike from his current incentive structure.

Vijayakumar, who joined HCLTech in 1994, held 673,923 shares at the end of March 2025, valued at ₹98 crore as of Friday, 1 August.

Restructuring, layoffs loom large

His pay hike comes at a time when HCLTech is reportedly planning restructuring in key markets outside India and letting go of staff who can’t be redeployed due to automation.

“Of course, we have had a good amount of people released due to the productivity improvements. Now, not all of them are readily redeployable because the requirements for some of the entry level or lower end skills are being addressed through automation and other elements,” Vijayakumar told analysts during a post-earnings call on 14 July.

“So, the training and the redeployment time is longer. Some of them will be redeployed, but for others, it may not be possible. So, some amount of change in the industry is also kind of causing this,” he added.

How other IT CEOs stack up

While Vijayakumar runs a $13.84 billion company, he is closely followed by Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, 60, who got a 22% raise last year, earning ₹80.62 crore while managing a firm that clocked $19.28 billion in revenue.

Vijayakumar’s package is more than three times that of TCS CEO K. Krithivasan, 61, whose pay rose 4.6% to ₹26.5 crore. Notably, Krithivasan, the lowest-paid among India’s top five IT CEOs, leads the country’s largest tech firm by revenue—$30.18 billion.

Wipro’s Srinivas Pallia, 58, received ₹53.6 crore (up 10%), heading a company that brought in $10.5 billion. Tech Mahindra’s Mohit Joshi, the youngest CEO at 51, earned ₹53.9 crore, including stock compensation. Tech Mahindra ended FY25 with $6.26 billion in revenue.

Parekh owns 11,85,548 Infosys shares, valued at ₹175 crore. Joshi holds 200,390 Tech Mahindra shares worth ₹29 crore. Pallia owns 200,000 Wipro shares worth ₹4.85 crore. TCS does not offer ESOPs, and Krithivasan owns 11,232 shares worth ₹3.4 crore.

The pay spike underscores performance for some—Infosys and HCLTech, in particular—both led by long-serving CEOs. Parekh and Vijayakumar have been at the helm for over seven years, overseeing periods of rapid expansion. While HCLTech grew the fastest in the last two years, Infosys was the second-fastest last fiscal.

“We are now in a post-digital era where enterprises are reimagining their business models with an AI-driven philosophy. As AI adoption among enterprises becomes mainstream, HCLTech is in a sweet spot to ride this opportunity curve with its full-stack portfolio and leadership in software and IP-led services,” said Vijayakumar, in his letter to shareholders as part of the company’s annual report.

Pay gaps widen across the board

IT firms, once conservative paymasters, are now rewarding leaders more aggressively—while employee wage trends remain mixed.

HCLTech’s median employee salary rose 17.63% in FY25, a jump from 7.07% the previous year. Infosys gave a 9.63% hike, while TCS raised salaries up to 7.5%, down from 9% in FY24. TCS has the largest workforce, with 613,069 employees; Infosys has 323,788.

Wipro and Tech Mahindra reported a decline in median employee salaries, in line with falling revenues. Wipro’s revenue dipped 2.7% to $10.5 billion, while Tech Mahindra’s dropped 0.21% to $6.26 billion.

Wipro cut overall employee compensation (excluding directors) by 0.6%, citing headcount reduction. Tech Mahindra slashed its median remuneration by 6.52%, the steepest among the big five. The firms had 233,232 and 148,517 employees, respectively.

Despite mounting challenges across the IT industry, India’s top tech bosses are seeing their pay soar—underscoring a widening gap between boardroom rewards and ground-level realities.

(With contributions from Vaeshnavi Kasthuril in Bengaluru)