TCS Salary Hike: After announcing plans to lay off 2 per cent of its global workforce, roughly 12,000 employees over the course of this year, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday announced a salary hike for 80% of its employees, specifically those in junior and mid-level roles. This means that the employees from the fresher level up to grade C3A will receive a hike in their salaries.
TCS salary hike announcement
However, there is a caveat. The salary hike will come into effect from September 1. This has led to many techies asking about the salary hike from April to August. The IT firm has not announced the percentage yet, but the update about the salary hike was communicated to employees via an internal email on August 6 by Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad and CHRO Designate K Sudeep.
“We are pleased to announce a compensation revision for all eligible associates in grades up to C3A and equivalent, covering 80 per cent of our workforce. This will be effective 1st September 2025,” read the email, per the news agency PTI.
It further read, “We would like to thank each one of you for your dedication and hard work, as we build the future of TCS together.”
The salary hike follows a delay in this year’s appraisal cycle, according to The Economic Times. The publication also noted that TCS had previously flagged uncertainty around salary increments, citing macroeconomic pressures and sluggish demand in key markets during its April and June quarter updates.
For the quarter ending in June, the company reported a 3.1% year-on-year decline in revenue (in constant currency terms) and a 3.3% drop compared to the previous quarter.
TCS salary hike: Last year
According to a report by ET, TCS offered salary hikes from 4.5% to 7%. The report further mentioned that the employees received a raise in double digits.
As of June 30, the IT firm’s total headcount stood at 6.1 lakh. During the April–June quarter, the company added 5,000 employees to its workforce.
TCS salary hike: ‘What about April-August?’
The announcement has led many to ask about the increment in salaries from April to August. “TCS has decided to give a salary hike, which will be effective from September. What about Apr-Aug? What is the use of the appraisal process, which you pressurise so much to close in February itself? And then lay-offs. TCS may benefit in the short term, but you will fail after some time,” asked one on social media.
Another simply wrote, “One side layoff and the other side salary hike.”
“Any hike less than 6% is not a hike at all; it’s inflation that eats away the hike. Salaries should be auto-hiked based on inflation data every year or every month. And auto-reduced if inflation goes down,” commented a third.
A fourth joked, “After massive layoffs, TCS became rich. Lol.”
TCS Layoffs 2025
The job cuts will take place in a phased manner, and the company will first talk to the impacted employees and provide them with an “opportunity”. The IT firm’s internal communication about layoffs recently went viral on social media. The company said that the layoffs come on the heels of TCS becoming a “future-ready organisation” and is expanding into new markets, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), and is launching various “reskilling and redeployment initiatives” to align its workforce with future demands.
“As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible. This will impact about 2% of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and the senior grades, over the course of the year.”
The company described the move as a “difficult decision” made in pursuit of “building a stronger TCS”.
“We understand that this is a challenging time for our colleagues who are likely to be affected. We thank them for their service and will be making all efforts to provide them with appropriate benefits, outplacement, counselling, and support as they transition to new opportunities,” it further announced, before adding, “Our HR and business leaders will reach out to these associates.”
It also urged the TCS employees to “come together” and “support” the company’s “growth momentum”.