Raja Simhan T.E

Due to salary hike and employee addition

Chennai , May 9

The combined staff cost for the country's top four software companies - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam - in 2005-06 increased by 55 per cent to Rs 15,252 crore compared to Rs 9,821 crore during the previous fiscal.

This is due to a combination of salary hike and employee addition during the year, said an industry source.

Wipro topped the staff cost list with Rs 4,279 crore and Infosys followed closely with Rs 4,273 crore, according to information collated by Business Line.

Staff cost doubles

During 2005-06, the staff cost for TCS more than doubled to Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 1,763 crore). Incidentally, TCS hired the most number of employees during 2005-06.

In a conference call with analysts on the company's March quarter and fiscal results, Mr S. Padmanabhan, Head of Global Human Resources, TCS, said during 2005-06 the company increased the compensation for employees by 11 per cent and this year it will be 15 per cent. TCS will also give a 3-5 per cent increase for people in overseas geographies, which include all the onsite locations. TCS is planning to have a net addition of 23,000 during the current fiscal, he said.

More additions

Infosys plans to add about 25,000 (gross) employees during the current fiscal, and Satyam 10,000-12,000 employees.

Smaller companies such as Geometric Software saw its staff cost going up to Rs 125 crore (Rs 92 crore) during 2005-06. The company's offshore and product development manpower cost has increased by 20 per cent. The increase in cost reflects manpower growth of 22 per cent over the previous year and salary increase effective April 2005.

Salary survey

Asia-Pacific Salary Increase Survey conducted by Hewitt Associates, global human resources services firm, in November said India reported the highest average salary increase in Asia at 13.9 per cent.

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