Domestic tech stocks are witnessing heavy losses in Friday’s session, December 26, after the country’s second-largest tech company, Infosys, raised its entry-level salaries for freshers.
Nine of the ten constituents of the Nifty IT index are trading in the red, led by Coforge, which dropped 4%, followed by Mphasis, Tech Mahindra, LTIMindtree, Tata Consultancy Services, and HCL Technologies, which fell between 1% and 1.5%. Infosys shares also traded lower, down 0.5% at ₹1,657 apiece as of 1:45 PM.
Tracking losses in major tech stocks, the Nifty IT index slipped 1% to 38,600 and is poised to end the week 0.2% lower.
Infosys hikes fresher salaries up to ₹21L amid AI talent push
According to social media posts cited and reviewed by Moneycontrol, the tech giant has raised its salaries for ₹21 lakh”>2025 graduates substantially, by up to ₹21 lakh, and the company will soon launch an off campus hiring drive for 2025 engineering and computer science graduates.
As per the Moneycontrol report citing Infosys Group CHRO Shaji Mathew, Infosys is focusing on its AI-first approach across all services, making it crucial to upskill existing employees and bring on board talent with deep expertise.
He confirmed that the hiring will include both on-campus and off-campus drives, with expanded opportunities in the field of Specialist Programmer. Livemint could not independently verify the hiring drive report. We have reached out to Infosys for confirmation, and this copy will be updated with their response.
Top Indian IT giants have, for decades, kept the salaries of entry-level graduates stagnant, while top executives continued to see their pay packages rise manifold. However, the landscape is changing with the emergence of AI and the requirement for deep expertise, prompting companies to offer significantly higher compensation.
Moneycontrol analysis illustrates the widening gap: Between FY12 and FY22, the median salary of IT CEOs jumped 835%, rising from ₹3.37 crore to ₹31.5 crore. In the same period, the median fresher’s salary grew only 45%, from ₹2.45 lakh to ₹3.55 lakh.
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