After stock options, Infosys to offer incentives to attract and retain valued employees

India's second largest software exporter Infosys was one of the first Indian companies that offered stocks to its employees and that too way back in the 90s. Now, the IT giant has thought of rolling out a new stock incentive plan for top and mid-level executives, so that top talent can be attracted and retained.

Infosys COO Pravin Rao told ET that the company was in the process of finalising the new stock option plan and will be alloting 1 to 1.5% of the company's equity to create a stock pool for top executives. The approval of shareholders will be sought soon.

Even though Infosys’s employee stock option plan (ESOP) had set new standards for employee benefits, it was discontinued in the early 2000s because the company was hiring thousands of employees every year at the peak of outsourcing boom.

"Today if you look at global technology companies, especially at a senior level, stock compensation is very big element of their strategy. And at times, when we're trying to recruit some key people from outside, we run into a challenge since we've discontinued the options plan," said Rao.

The new stock option plan will be restricted only to a small percentage of top and mid-level executives, and not for the complete 193,000-strong workforce.