India's TCS senior staff will miss out on variable pay for September quarter, memo shows

Senior staff at India's Tata Consultancy Services will miss out on quarterly bonuses after the company failed to meet performance targets, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, the first time in at least two years all variable pay was withheld for some workers.

"For associates C3A grade and above, there will be no QVA (quarterly variable allowance) this quarter. This decision was taken after careful consideration as our performance for the quarter fell short of internal targets," said Sudeep Kunnumal, chief human resource officer in the memo.

Associates in C3A and above grades are employees with typically 7-10 years of experience up to senior-level management. The junior-level employees will get 100% of the eligible pay, the memo added.


Mails sent to TCS did not elicit a response. Employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said typically the company awards 50-100% of variable pay and it is the first time in at least two years that the company has explicitly said no bonuses shall be awarded.

This comes as the country's largest IT firm reported its weakest September-quarter sequential revenue growth ‌in three years, signaling continued pressure on traditional IT services demand even as AI-related revenue jumped nearly 20%. The uptick in AI revenue, however, was cheered by investors on Friday as the stock rose as much as 6.2%.

India's $315 billion IT sector is also facing uncertainty stemming from the Trump administration as it suspended major IT outsourcers including TCS, Infosys, HCLTech from a key green-card program on Thursday, widening a crackdown it says targets fraud and protects American ‌jobs.