'Stop spending on unnecessary things, start...': Market expert warns amid reports of 3-4% salary hike in HCL 

Market expert Vivek Singhal has advised young professionals to cut down on unnecessary spending and prioritise investments for long-term financial stability. This advice comes against the backdrop of reports indicating modest salary increments in HCLTech, India's third-largest IT services company.  

Taking to X on Monday, Singhal said: "3-4% salary hike to top performers. Don’t be too late; stop spending on unnecessary things, start investing; buildup a decent size of portfolio over next 10 years. Remember, there is no salary after retirement."  

HCLTech recently began rolling out wage hikes for its junior-level employees during the October-December quarter, offering increments of 1-2 per cent to most employees, while top performers received hikes of 3-4 per cent, according to Moneycontrol.  

This has drawn attention as the figures fall significantly short of the company's earlier commitment to provide average annual pay hikes of 7 per cent and double-digit raises of 12-15 percent for top performers.

HCLTech's wage hike delays align with a broader trend in India's IT sector, where many companies, including Infosys, have deferred or reduced salary revisions due to global economic uncertainties.

Infosys has also reportedly postponed its annual wage hikes to the fourth quarter of FY25, with its last hike taking place in November 2023.  

HCLTech's hikes were primarily limited to junior employees (E0-E2 levels), while mid to senior-level staff (E3 and above) have not received increments for at least two years. Employees have expressed dissatisfaction, stating that their compensation reviews have been skipped, despite assurances of regular appraisals in the company's earnings calls.  

However, a HCLTech spokesperson told Moneycontrol that the company was proceeding as per the plan shared during the Q2 earnings commentary.

According to the report, the company reiterated its commentary from the Q2 earnings conference, saying, "Typically, every year when you look at the review cycle, given the fact that we have a higher proportion of people who come in laterally into our system, who will become eligible for increases at the point of completing a year, the number of individuals eligible for increases during a given cycle. It is a function of that, plus the performance."