TCS Employee Salary Drop: The Information Technology (IT) industry has long been seen as a frontrunner in India’s service sector, offering high-paying salaries and abundant opportunities. However, this perception appears to be changing, with concerns growing that the industry’s golden phase is fading—further intensified by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
A viral Reddit post has highlighted the struggles of IT professionals at India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
According to the post, a TCS employee working as a Java developer claimed that their monthly salary declined from Rs 25,000 in 2020 to Rs 22,800 over the past 5.5 years.
The employee said they had started preparing for government jobs after joining TCS following graduation from a tier-3 college. They missed clearing the exam by a few marks and also failed to upskill during this period.
Eventually, the employee was moved from the C band to the D band and was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) in July 2025. “I panicked and prepared heavily for a few months and got selected for a project without informing the manager that I was on PIP,” the post said.
The post added that the company subsequently stopped the employee’s appraisal.
The employee further claimed that HR officials raise questions after reviewing the salary slip and drop offer discussions, despite thorough preparation. “My life is really getting disturbed because of this, and I am losing hope of surviving in the IT industry,” the post concluded.
This also underlines another problem in the IT industry – a stark pay divide between top executives and early entrants in the industry.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday reported a marginal uptick in its attrition rate during the December quarter, alongside a significant reduction in its employee base, underscoring the impact of its ongoing restructuring and workforce rationalisation efforts.
India’s largest IT services firm said attrition rose slightly to 13.5 per cent in the third quarter of the current financial year (Q3 FY26), compared with 13.3 per cent in the September quarter. During the same period, the company’s total headcount fell by more than 11,000 employees to 5,82,163 at the end of December, down from 5,93,314 in the previous quarter.