Indian mid-tier IT firms offer competitive pay packages, outpace large players

Data indicate that mid-sized IT firms in India offer competitive salaries, and in cases, even higher packages than their large counterparts. Industry experts have pointed out that these companies are keen to attract top talent to drive their growth.

A sample study conducted by specialist staffing company Xpheno showed that of the 20,000 entry-level engineering staffers at the top six IT service companies in India, 74 per cent were in the CTC range of ₹2.5 lakh per annum (LPA) to ₹5 LPA; 12 per cent were in the ₹5-7.5 LPA range and 7 per cent had CTC above ₹7.5 LPA. Further, 8 per cent were in the sub ₹2.5 LPA range, primarily engaged in non-core tech roles. 

A parallel study of 5,000 entry-level engineering staffers , working at 10 midcap IT service companies, showed that 57 per cent were in the CTC range of ₹2.5-5 LPA, with 30 per cent in the higher range of ₹5-7.5 LPA and 7 per cent with CTC ranging above ₹7.5 LPA. Only 5 per cent of the entry-level talent were in the sub ₹2.5 LPA range. 

Range-wise salary trends

“Tier-1 firms, in good market conditions, typically absorb entry-level talent count in 5-digit figures, while mid-caps intake mid to high 4-digit counts of talent. The sheer scale in which tier-1 players operate keeps them in the conservative mid-range on compensation at the pyramid’s base. Midcap players, on the other hand, go a notch higher given the lower scale of intake and the need to compete with the tier-1 players,” said Prasadh MS, Head of Workforce Research at Xpheno.

Large-cap, mid-cap

Large IT firms in India generate substantial revenue, typically billions of USD annually. Mid-sized IT firms, on the other hand, have significantly lower revenue, ranging from hundreds of millions to a few billion USD. The former usually employ thousands to tens of thousands of people while the latter hundreds to a few thousand employees.

Rohan Sylvester, talent strategy advisor at Indeed India, noted, “salaries in the industry vary depending on the job role, candidate experience, and company type — whether large-cap or mid-cap. Interestingly, mid-cap firms often offer competitive or even higher salaries than their large-cap counterparts, especially for niche roles requiring specialised skills. These companies are keen to attract top talent to drive their growth and innovation, helping them stand out in a competitive market.”

The CEOs of some mid-tier companies earned more than their counterparts in TCS and Infosys in the last financial year. Coforge CEO Sudhir Singh’s annual remuneration was ₹105.12 crore in FY24, followed by Sandeep Kalra of Persistent Systems at ₹77.1 crore and Mphasis’ Nitin Rakesh with ₹44.13 crore.

On the other hand, HCLTechnologies CEO C Vijayakumar, who was the highest paid among the top four IT firms, earned ₹84.16 crore last fiscal. Following him was Infosys CEO Salil Parekh who earned around ₹66 crore and Wipro’s Srini Pallia who got paid around ₹50 crore.

However, data also indicates that while larger companies may still be offering more money, the difference is not enormous.

Recruitment platform Naukri.com observed that in the last one-year, top IT firms with a heacount of over 1,000, paid a median CTC of ₹3.75 LPA, while mid-sized firms paid around ₹3.5 LPA. These companies can have 200-1,000 employees.

Sanju Ballurkar, President of Experis, ManpowerGroup India attributed salary variations to factors beyond company size. “Even within the same large company, entry-level salaries can vary widely. Across the industry, the broad spectrum of entry-level compensation is shaped by other factors than whether a company is large, mid-sized, or small.”

Salaries in large-cap companies in tier I cities can reach up to ₹4.5 LPA, while mid-cap companies offer between ₹3.5 - 4 LPA. The shift toward remote work has led to lower pay scales for fresh graduates from smaller cities or towns, research indicated.

Academic institution’s ranking

On the other hand, their institutions impact student’s starting salary, particularly in the case of campus recruitment where minimum packages are often predetermined. Companies are said to have tiered structures for colleges and universities, setting standard salaries based on the institution’s ranking.

According to ManpowerGroup India, students with expertise in emerging fields like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data science tend to receive higher starting salaries compared to regular graduates.

Experts also pointed out the stagnation of fresher salaries in the IT sector, specifically the IT services cohort as the largest consumer of talent. “This is evident from the decade’s trend on fresher packages in the offering. The net growth in the offer packages has been just a little over ₹1 lakh per annum, over the last 10-year period,” added Xpheno’s Prasadh.

He noted that the oversupply of talent at the bottom of the tech pyramid and rising enterprise training costs to make them job-ready will continue to keep compensation packages stagnant or with minor movements.

“While economic conditions affect hiring volumes, they have a limited impact on salary packages. There has been minimal growth in entry-level salaries in the IT industry over the past decade,” echoed Ballurkar from ManpowerGroup India.