infosys: Infosys to give 80% variable pay to employees for September quarter

Infosys will hand out the quarterly performance bonus for the July-September period to eligible employees at an average of 80% payout this month.

Employees at position level 6 (PL6-manager) and below band – meaning those below manager category barring entry level – are set to receive the variable pay. While the average payout would be at 80%, individual payout will differ based on their performance and contribution for the quarter, as per an official communication by the engineering team HR head at Infosys.

ET has seen the internal communication.

“This is to keep you all informed that the quarterly performance bonus payout for Q2FY2024 will happen in November 2023 payroll for all eligible employees,” it said.

Unit delivery managers will finalise the distribution of the payout for their respective units and inform the eligible employees this week, it said.

Infosys did not respond to emailed queries sent by ET as of press time Thursday.

The Bengaluru-based IT giant, which had frozen salary hikes in FY23 to conserve cash, had started its annual appraisal cycle starting October, ET had reported in September.Its performance bonus payout comes at a time when Infosys and other top-tier IT companies have reported muted revenue growth in the September quarter – the same period for which the country’s second largest software services exporter is paying the bonus.

The 80% payout is similar to what it paid in the first quarter but higher than the previous quarters in FY22 when payouts ranged 60%-70%.

In the quarter ended March this year, Infosys had paid out 60% as variable pay, ET had then reported.

“Dear Infoscion, we were able to stay relevant and build a solid foundation for future market share expansions in Q2, despite the challenging environment… You play a pivotal role in the success of our organisation, and we look forward to an optimistic quarter ahead with you,” the email announcing the payout read.

At Infosys, the annual appraisal cycle starts from October and ends in September of the following financial year, and the company usually discloses employee ratings by January and releases the letter of pay raise to employees in June.

Most IT majors including Infosys have witnessed a dip in its headcount in recent months owing to industry-wide growth constraints.

The $245-billion IT industry has been under pressure after global macroeconomic concerns amid the ongoing geopolitical concerns including the Israel-Palestine conflict led to a squeeze on technology spending.

Last month, Infosys reported a marginal rise of 3.2% on year in net profit for the quarter ended September at Rs 6,212 crore on a 7% revenue growth at Rs 38,994 crore.

However, Infosys trimmed its revenue growth guidance for FY24 further to 1%-2.5% from earlier estimates of 1%-3.5%, citing reduction in tech spending by global clients, pushing IT firms to conserve cash and maintain a cautious approach on employee expenses including fresh hiring.

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