TCS salary: ₹21,000. Expenses: ₹30,000. Thousands relate to techie’s complaint | Trending

A post about stagnant salaries at one of India’s top IT companies has gone viral online with over a million views. Shashank Rustagi said that in 2019, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) offered him a salary of ₹21,000 per month. His living expenses at the time were ₹30,000, far exceeding his fresher salary. Salaries at India’s top IT firms have stagnated over the last decade (Getty Images/ockphoto) The worst part, as per Rustagi, is not that his expenses exceeded his salary – it is that five years later, TCS salaries have not grown with inflation. According to the techie, they offer the same compensation of ₹21,000 per month even today. His post has gone viral on X, where many techies complained about stagnant salaries not just at TCS but also at other leading IT firms. TCS, however, bore the brunt of the backlash as dozens of techies recalled being offered the same salary as far back as 2008. “My first ever “offer” was from TCS from an off campus drive. They were offering 21K all the way back in 2013 as well,” wrote X user Jatin. X user Bhavan said TCS offered him the same salary in 2011. “Surprising to see they didn’t change the entry package much,” he wrote. “My TCS salary in 2008 was 21k too,” wrote X user Pooja. “My IBM salary in 2013 was 21k. Nothing much has changed in the past 10 years,” one person opined. “OMG. As far as I can remember this was the fresher salary at TCS in the 2010s too.. no change in so many years?” another asked. One X user said they were offered ₹18,000 at Wipro back in 2010. “18k in 2010 (Wipro), I have heard it’s still the same,” they wrote. “As a matter of perspective I joined Tech Mahindra in 2006 on 3.0 lpa. I am shocked that the salaries have barely moved in almost 18 years,” another techie said. Exploitation or not?Shashank Rustagi’s take on Indian salaries has sparked a spirited debate on the ethicality of the whole thing. His post has collected over 1.1 million views on X, where some called it corporate exploitation and others called it a part of life. “Did you and 100s of others take the job? The market doesn’t care what your expenses are. It pays what is the lowest they’re able to fill the position at reliably. There are enough upwardly mobile lower middle class who will happily take that job,” one person said. Several X users said that ₹21,000 would have gone a lot further in the 2000s and IT firms need to increase base pay. “The worst part is they still get lakhs of students to join them. When there is supply, they will exploit and call it POPULATION DIVIDEND,” said Kamal Kumar.