Capgemini India, Cognizant and others who are giving salary hikes in times of Coronavirus

• As much as 70% of the employees at the IT major Capgemini are getting a higher single-digit pay hike this year.
  
• Its 84,000 employees will have increased pay, starting April 1.
  
• The IT company rolled out over 4,000 job offers to lateral hires and to 2,000 freshers — and will absorb them all.
  
• On similar lines, digital payments startup BharatPe gave its employees a 20% salary hike while Cognizant announced 25% more pay on the base salary for the month of April.

A large number of Indian companies are reeling under the Corona-induced lockdown, and hence choosing to either retrench or cut salaries. However, there are a few delightful exceptions who are offering hikes, even during difficult times.

IT major Capgemini is giving 70% of its employees a higher single-digit pay hike this year. That helps 84,000 employees who will enjoy increased pay, starting April 1. The remaining staff will get appraisals in July, TOI reports.

It is also one of the select few companies that is absorbing all the new campus hires it had extended offers to. It gave 4,000 job offers to lateral hires, and to 2,000 freshers in the quarter ending March.

“This is a black swan event and at this point it’s not a question of timeline, but how our business will evolve. And we have a clear view as to what our economic model is going to look like and we don’t see any reason to discontinue this approach,” Ashwin Yardi, CEO at Capgemini India told TOI.

The French IT multinational, with a heavy presence in India, is also giving away cash allowances worth ₹10,000 to employees who are not left with any means to relocate and are stranded without accommodation.

In fact, the ‘shift allowance’ will now be extended to its ‘work from home’ employees as they practice social distancing.

The company said that it will focus on retaining employees — even those on bench, who are not working on billable projects. Usually the grace period for those on bench is up to 60 days and IT majors generally have 8% of employees on the bench.

Cognizant and BharatPe also hike salaries amid lockdown

Digital payments startup BharatPe also decided to give its employees a hike. “I closed the appraisals two days ago and I have given a 20% hike to my employees. To me it’s like cycles will come and go, but can you keep your sanity and be ready to build a bigger business,” Ashneer Grover, CEO and co-founder, Bharatpe told Business Insider in an interview earlier.

American IT multinational Cognizant too said it will bump wages for those up to the associate level. That’s almost two-thirds of its 200,000-strong workforce in India.

It also announced 25% more pay on the base salary for the month of April to its employees in India and the Philippines as a “sign of gratitude” for their consistent efforts even during the pandemic.

See also:
TCS, Cognizant, Capgemini and other top giants who are not letting go of their new hires

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