Bad news for IT sector employees still continues, now it’s coming from one of the big IT giants of India.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has decided to postpone employee salary hikes for the financial year 2025, due to business uncertainties. The announcement was made during the company’s post-Q4 FY25 earnings press conference held in Mumbai on April 10.

Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Milind Lakkad explained the reason behind the decision: “Because of the uncertain environment, we will decide during the year on wage hikes. It can be at any time, depending on business,” He said that the timing and extent of potential hikes would be evaluated as the year progresses.

TCS Hiring Plans

TCS hired 42,000 freshers from campuses in FY25, and will maintain or improve on the number in FY26, Lakkad said, adding that the attrition inched up to 13.3 per cent. The company promoted a sixth of its workforce in the March quarter, leading to a 1 percentage point impact on the operating profit margin.

Despite the conservative approach to wage hikes, TCS has maintained its hiring momentum. The company closed FY25 with a workforce of 6,07,979 employees, marking a net addition of 6,433 employees over the year. In the fourth quarter alone, 625 new hires were onboarded.

He projected that fresher hiring in FY26 could remain steady or potentially increase. “We continue to hire from campuses, and the number this year may be slightly higher than what we added last year,” Lakkad said.

TCS Q4 Results

TCS on Thursday reported a 1.7 per cent decline in the March quarter net profit to Rs 12,224 crore, driven largely by a margin contraction. The Tata Group company, which is the first major entity to report January-March performance, also announced that it will be deferring wage hikes to its 6.07 lakh employees due to the business uncertainties triggered by the tariff issues.

Its FY25 net profit increased 4.2 per cent to Rs 48,553 crore on the back of a 6 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 2.55 lakh crore or over USD 30 billion. The company’s managing director and chief executive K Krithivasan said it expects FY26 to be better than FY25 on the revenue front, but acknowledged the ongoing challenges.

There are delays in decision-making when it comes to discretionary spending, he said, adding that there are some project ramp-downs as well. He was, however, quick to add that there have not been any major project delays.

(With Inputs From PTI)