CEO Gets 22% Raise Employees Barely Scrape By

In a blatant display of privilege over people, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh pocketed an eye-watering ₹80.62 crore in FY25 an astonishing 22% raise while the average employee was handed a measly 5–8% pay hike, barely keeping pace with inflation. This isn’t just corporate imbalance, it’s a moral crisis.

Here’s the Stark Contrast:

• ₹80.62 crore for Parekh
• Average salary increases for employees: 5–8%, and only 10–20% for a rare few high performers
• CEO’s pay is a staggering 752x the median employee salary of ₹10.7 lakh

Why This Feels Deeply Wrong

• Broken promise of meritocracy: The message is clear: CEOs win, workers just coast
• Erosion of employee trust: When leadership takes home millions, morale plummets
• Calls for change ignored: Boards justify this by calling it “market-aligned,” but whose markets are we talking about?

The Ripple Effect

• Rising frustration among employees who struggle to balance workloads with low rewards
• Talent hemorrhage, especially at mid-to-senior levels
• Industry-wide disillusionment: Are we even rewarding real performance anymore?

This Is Not Just Business; It’s Betrayal

Infosys may be hitting revenue targets and AI milestones, but behind the numbers lies a wounded workforce labeled as ‘met expectations,’ while one man walks away with tens of crores. This isn’t sustainable. It’s a silent crisis in corporate India and it’s time to speak up

What Must Change:

• Wage ceilings meaningful, not symbolic
• Real performance pay-outs, not just stock windfalls for executives
• Transparency in compensation: no more blurred lines
• Intentional equity redistribution: fairness isn’t a buzzword, it’s overdue