Vishal Sikka set to deliver double bonus to senior employees

Come April, all senior-level Infosys employees are in for a bonanza. They will be eligible for a double bonus that could go beyond $100,000.

This long-term bonus, for those with the designation of associate vice-president and above at Infosys, was earlier disbursed once every two years but, since 2014, it’s become an annual payout. This will result in employees becoming eligible for double disbursal as the last one was made in 2013, people familiar with the situation told FE.

This year, the long-term bonus is likely to be more liberal under new chief executive officer Vishal Sikka, sources said. It is also understood that the company is keen on retaining its key executives as it engages in a transformation exercise.

This bonus plan is markedly different from the quarterly variable bonus paid to all employees. The long-term bonus has generally been in the range of 100-120% which translates into $100,000-125,000.

“It will be a very interesting period to watch as many employees are awaiting their quantum of bonuses to decide on their future plans,” according to a source.

In response to an e-mail query from FE, Infosys said, “We do not comment on speculations on compensation/bonus payments.”

Infosys is faced with a challenging situation on the human resources (HR) front with attrition still high and the company trying new measures to retain employees. One of its key goals is to retain top performers — the company saw significant churn past year with many mid-level and senior employees moving to the rival firms.

Infosys, which has a clear focus on good performers, is trying to retain them either through higher compensation or by putting their career on the fast track. It also plans to give greater prominence to those at the top of the heap when it comes to technology.

Ever since Sikka took over as CEO in August last year, he has emphasised learnability among Infosys employees. He has initiated new concepts such as design thinking and murmuration for employees for a paradigm shift in software services delivery.

These measures have also resulted in influx of talent, the majority of them being executives from Sikka’s previous employer, SAP.

The latest to join Infosys from SAP will be Gordon Muehl, former chief technology officer – security at SAP, and he will be based in Germany.

Other examples include Michael Reh, who is heading the banking product business Finacle and products business, Abdul Razack, Ritka Suri, Sanjay Rajagopalan and Navin Budhiraja.

Infosys has already begun a search for a new HR head to fill up for Srikantan Moorthy, who is taking up a delivery function.