Capgemini India gives salary hike to 70% staff, retains employees on bench

In a welcome move, French IT major Capgemini has announced that it has given single-digit salary hike to 70 percent of its employees in India, effective April 1, 2020. The tech firm has 1.2 lakh employees in India, of which 84,000 employees will be benefitted by this decision.

The rest of the employees of Capgemini India will get their increments in July, reported the Times of India. The decision has been praised widely, especially since several companies have cut the salaries of their employees or sacked their staff to deal with the COVID-19 crisis that has brought economic activity to a standstill.

Notably, the IT company will also be providing cash allowance of up to Rs 10,000 to employees who have got stranded due to the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and do not have a paying-guest accommodation either. These decisions were taken by the company at a meeting held in mid-March before the lockdown had been announced.

Besides, employees are being retained on the bench (employees who are currently not working on any project) and their salaries are being paid without setting any timeline either. Moreover, the company has extended its shift allowance to those working from home also, which includes 95 percent of its workforce. The promotions due in April would be announced in June and be effective from July 1.

Ashwin Yardi, CEO of Capgemini India, has also assured that all employees will receive their full salaries regardless of their bench time.

He added: “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.”

Yardi further assured that there has been no discussion within the Capgemini India leadership to introduce pay cuts either.

―Money Control