Nearly 70% employees return to office as TCS links variable pay to attendance
Nearly 70% employees return to office as TCS links variable pay to attendance
Fewer employees risk losing their bonuses as TCS mandates office attendance for full variable pay.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief HR Officer Milind Lakkad announced on July 11 that almost 70 per cent of the IT services giant’s employees have returned to the office following a new policy linking variable pay to attendance. He also added that this measure is temporary and should be viewed in that light.
In April 2024, TCS implemented a policy tying quarterly variable payouts to employees’ office attendance. Those with less than 60 per cent attendance will not be eligible for the quarterly bonus. This policy update followed a mandate requiring employees to work from the office five days a week.
The new policy stipulates that employees must have a minimum of 85 per cent office attendance to receive full quarterly variable pay. Consistent non-compliance would lead to disciplinary actions. Employees with 75-85 per cent attendance will receive 75 per cent of their variable pay, while those with 60-75 per cent attendance will get 50 per cent.
During the company’s Q1FY25 earnings conference, Lakkad responded to questions about the policy. He noted that there are implications for employees not coming to the office but did not disclose the specific consequences. “Today, almost 70% of our employees are back in the office. I am not too worried about the number of people not coming to the office and getting affected by this. This number is increasing every week,” he said.
Lakkad added, “People are realizing the value of coming to the office. Some are coming for the first time because they joined during the pandemic. These aspects are temporary in nature from our standpoint and need to be looked at from that angle by everyone.”
Earlier, TCS had shared that almost 40 per cent of its current workforce had joined the company during the Covid pandemic years and had never worked from the office. TCS reported a 9 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit at Rs 12,040 crore for the quarter, with revenue from operations rising 5.4 per cent to Rs 62,613 crore.
