IT CEO pay ratios cross 600x median salaries at Infosys, HCLTech; TCS brings it down to 330x
TCS CEO K Kirthivasan's remuneration is nearly 330 times the median employee salary, down from a 427:1 during former CEO Rajesh Gopinathan's tenure two yeas ago. However, when compared to the lowest-level employees, the ratio could be considerably higher.
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The frequent layoffs in India's IT service firm, especially after the post-Covid hiring spree, have highlighted the widening compensation gap between the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and employees.
Data from the past three years shows that among India's IT bellwethers, TCS and HCLTech have marginally narrowed the gap between CEO pay and median employee remuneration. In contrast, Infosys and Wipro have experienced a significant widening of this gap, with CEOs' compensation reaching up to 600 times the median employee salary in some cases.
Sonal Arora, Country Manager, GI Group Holding, says, "These high ratios are attributed to the global nature of the business, the need for strategic leadership, and the competitive landscape for top talent".
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh's pay ratio to the Median Employee Remuneration (MRE) has widened from 627:1 in Fiscal Year 2023 to 752:1 in FY2025. Parekh's compensation comprises fixed pay, variable pay, retiral benefits, and the perquisite value of stock incentives exercised during the period. In FY25, Parekh exercised stock incentives worth Rs 49.50 crore.
Similarly, at HCLTech, the ratio between CEO and Managing Director C. Vijayakumar's compensation and the median employee remuneration increased to 662.57 in FY2025 to 253.35 in FY23. However, in FY24, the ratio had peaked at 707:1. Vijayakumar also received a performance-linked bonus of $1.73 million in FY25.
On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has managed to narrow this pay gap to some extent. CEO K Kirthivasan's remuneration is nearly 330 times the median employee salary, down from a 427:1 during former CEO Rajesh Gopinathan's tenure two yeas ago. However, when compared to the lowest-level employees, the ratio could be considerably higher.
Wipro has also reduced the CEO pay ratio following its leadership transition. IN FY23, former CEO and MD Thierry Delaport's compensation stood at Rs 82.4 crore, 916 times that of the median salary of the company's employees.
This ratio declined to 548.22 under current CEO Srinivas Pallia, who was paid Rs 53 crore in FY25, including Rs 14 crore in variable pay and other allowances.
Interestingly, base salaries for CEOs at two of the four IT giants have declined marginally over the past two years. For instance, Vijayakumar's base salary was reduced from $2 million in FY23 to $1.96 million in FY25. Similarly, TCS CEO Kirthivasan's base salary is Rs 1.3 crore, lower than Gopinathan's Rs 1.7 crore in FY23.
Conversely, Infosys CEO Parekh's base salary has increased by 11.6% to Rs 7.45 crore from Rs 6.67 crore in FY23. At Wipro, Pallia's base salary stands at Rs 14.5 crore in FY25--61% higher than Delaporte's Rs 9.5 crore in FY23.
Apart from higher base pay, the rising variable pay, bonus, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) linked earnings for top bosses are the complementary factors behind the pay gap. In contrast, the compensation of employees has been moderate, mostly single to mid-double digit, and at the freshers or entry level, there is no proportionate rise in compensation.
Arora points out that the attractive base pay at the C-suite level is designed to align with the competencies and responsibilities expected from the leadership roles.
Dr. Manjari Srivastava, Associate Dean - Academic Programmes, K J Somaiya Institute of Management explains that a range of factors justify higher CEOs compensation, including the credibility they build over years of consistent performance.
Ohter parameters include, differences in competencies and skill sets between CEOs and lower-level employees, as well as the level of accountability.
"The CEO is expected to live the organization's values, be fair and transparent, and is responsible for overall organization’s performance. In case of failure, the blame goes to CEOs," Srivastava added.
Kamal Karanth, Co-founder, Xpheno - a specialist staffing company said, "This pay-gap is part of the sector's talent, competitive positioning and leadership pedigree dynamics".
He further noted that while tech CEOs oversee the largest and a highly dynamic human pyramid of coordinated effort and excellence, the bottom of this pyramid, comprising entry-level talent, faces low demand and high supply.
"The entry-level talent is not directly deployable, hence requiring investments by way of training spending. These factors have caused low compensation costs at the bottom of the pyramid," Ethanur mentioned.
Experts also caution against the opacity in CEOs' compensation disclosures. Without transparent criteria, CEOs' earnings will continue to be questioned, potentially leading to perceptions of disparity among employees, and negatively impacting brand image and workplace productivity, Dr Srivastava warns.
While the reward for performance is seen through performance-based incentives, there is a caveat. According to Dr Srivastava, since the board is responsible, if a CEO is able to influence his/her compensation, it will only lead to unintended consequences.
