Number of crorepatis at Infosys falls to less than half to 54

BENGALURU: The number of Infosys employees earning annual salaries of at least Rs 1 crore fell to less than half to 54, following a change in the long-term bonus policy last year for title-holding executives at the software firm.

Infosys had last year changed a long-time bonus rule for mid- to top-level executives.

Under the earlier policy, the company rewarded executives above the associate vice-president level with long-term bonuses that had accumulated over a period of three years, after these executives completed at least one year in that role.

As a result, in 2015-16, the number of crorepatis at Infosys jumped nearly 10 times to 113.

However, the company has now done away with the concept of "long-term" payouts and instead started handing out annual bonuses to title-holding executives during the same financial year. The number of executives in at least Rs 1-crore pay bracket has, therefore, witnessed significant correction, according to an executive.

In its annual report for 2014-15, Infosys had clarified that " remuneration includes long-term bonus paid to eligible employees for fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 as per the employment agreement".

In its FY16 annual report, the company said all executive and employee salaries were "based on payouts made during the year"

This is part of a broader strategy to control top-level attrition and retain key executives at a time when Infosys is battling against the likes of TCS and Cognizant, and outsourcing contracts worth billions of dollars are at stake.