Things get better HCL Tech plans to hire 2,000 by Dec-Jan; considering salary hikes for top performers Infosys said it will be starting compensation review for need-based promotion starting Oct Mahindra Satyam will reinstate variable pay across employee levels starting Oct 1 Employers are talking about hiring, salary hikes and promotions after almost a year of cost cutting that involved lay-offs, lower perks and recruitment freezes.

HCL Technologies plans to hire 2,000 people over the next quarter, including some fresh graduates. It has started the process of identifying its top performers for a salary hike.

“We plan to hire 2,000 people in the next three to four months,” D.K. Srivastava, global HR head for HCL Tech, told Hindustan Times. “Promotions will continue and we will reward our consistent top performers this year as well,” he added, saying the extent will vary between employees, he said.

Going back on its earlier decision, the country’s second largest software firm, Infosys Technologies, is considering giving salary increments to its over 1 lakh employees.

According to sources in the IT major, Infosys has sent out an e-mail statement to its workforce saying that the “company has decided to carry out the compensation review exercise and limited need-based promotion from October 1, 2009.”

This will be the first for the Indian IT industry as other top industry players like TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies have all resorted to salary freezes in order to save costs in the wake of the current economic downturn.

Like its peers, Infosys had maintained so far that the company will abstain from any kind of salary hikes during the current financial year. T V Mohandas Pai, director, HR, Infosys confirmed the news to FE. However, he refused to divulge the quantum of hike and if the company will dole out increments across the board. According to industry experts, the move could be indicative of the market stabilising as signs of recovery start to appear the world over though large deals are still difficult to come by.

The e-mail, dated September 18, 2009, has been sent out by Infosys’ group head of human resources Nandita Gurjar and said, “…In the current severe economic downturn, our focus has been the preservation of jobs. You will be happy to know that your company has decided to carry out the compensation review exercise and limited need-based promotion from effective October 1, 2009…”