TCS employees with less than 60% attendance in office won't get variable pay?

The IT firm had recently mandated employees to work from office five days a week. The new policy, according to a Times of India report, earmarks 50% variable pay for those with attendance between 60 and 75% for the quarter, 75% variable pay for 75-85% attendance and full variable pay for employees with compliance levels of above 85%.

Non-compliance could lead to disciplinary action, the report said.

K Krithivasan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has recently expressed confidence in the success of the company's return-to-office policy, stating that it has played a crucial role in maintaining TCS' organisational culture.

Krithivasan said nearly 65 per cent of TCS associates are now attending the office 3-5 days a week, just a quarter after the implementation of the policy, setting TCS apart from its industry peers.

He emphasised that the primary objectives behind the "return to office" approach are to ensure associates receive the best value and to preserve the "organisational culture".

Krithivasan expressed optimism that, with the positive incentives provided, a majority of employees will be back in the office within the next couple of quarters.

TCS reported a decline in full-year headcount for the first time in 19 years since the tech giant was listed in 2004. On a year-on-year basis, the company's headcount fell by over 13,249 for the fiscal. On a sequential basis, the headcount was down by 1,759.

Compared to FY23, the firm's addition to the number of employees was dismal. The total headcount was 614,795 in FY23 and the company had a net addition of 22,600 employees for the whole year. Despite this, the company is among the earlier ones that have hit the campus route to hire freshers.

"We are still calibrating the total freshers we want to hire for FY25. Our plan is to get to the 40,000 number, but we will see how it goes," said Milind Lakkad, chief HR officer, TCS.