Employees of Tata Consultancy Services will have to wait a bit longer for their annual salary hikes. The IT major has deferred its wage revision cycle for yet another quarter, breaking away from its usual April 1 schedule.
The delay comes as the company treads cautiously amid a complex global environment. TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad admitted, “We haven’t been able to take a decision yet on the wage hike cycle,” during the company’s Q1FY26 earnings call.
Traditionally, TCS rolls out increments at the beginning of the financial year. But this time, the delay has stretched for more than a quarter, raising questions about how global challenges are influencing internal decisions.
Interestingly, the company added 5,090 employees during the April-June quarter, taking its total headcount to over 6.13 lakh. That’s despite flat revenue growth and subdued client demand.
But Lakkad clarified that hiring isn't tied to quarterly performance. “Hiring shouldn’t be connected to quarterly growth. It’s planned on a yearly basis,” he explained, adding that earlier aggressive hiring was followed by some business headwinds. That’s left the company with more hands than it currently needs—but TCS isn’t too worried. “It’s not a major concern as we plan to make use of this surplus going forward,” Lakkad said.
TCS clocked a revenue of ₹63,437 crore for Q1FY26, marking a modest 1.3% rise compared to the same period last year. However, it slipped by 1.6% from the previous quarter, signalling a possible pause in momentum.
On the brighter side, net profit rose nearly 6% year-on-year to ₹12,760 crore, aided by a one-off tax gain and cost savings after wrapping up a large transformation project.
Still, the tone from CEO K Krithivasan was far from upbeat. “There have been delays in discretionary investments and decision-making. This trend has continued and intensified,” he said, pointing to ongoing disruptions due to geopolitical conflicts, global economic uncertainties, and supply chain issues.
