‘9 years of unchained slavery for a meagre salary of Rs…’; Ex-employees’ reddit post about ‘silent exploitation’ at Narayana’s Murthy’s Infosys goes viral

In a Reddit post which has now gone viral, the user revealed that he worked for Narayana Murthy-led Infosys for nine years, and his last monthly salary, before leaving the firm in 2017, was just Rs 35,000.

Amid the ongoing debate over shrinking work-life balance, low-salaries, and calls for increased working hours for professionals, a former Infosys employee narrated his nine-year experience of working for the Narayana Murthy-led tech giant, detailing how he was underpaid for his services, and did not receive other perks like free parking and free transportation at Infosys, which is being provided at his current workplace.

“I began my journey as a fresher at Infosys in 2008 and stayed there until 2017, when I switched to one of the Big 4 firms. Currently, I’m working at an IT giant based in Ecospace, Bangalore. Having spent 9 years at Infosys, I thought the norms there were universal across the IT industry. But over the last 7+ years, working in other organizations has been a revelation,” a techie under the username GoatTop607, posted in r/bangalore on Reddit.

Meagre salary, nominal hikes

In the post which has now gone viral, the user revealed that he worked for Narayana Murthy-led Infosys for nine years, and his last monthly salary, before leaving the firm in 2017, was just Rs 35,000. But today “I earn Rs 1.7 lakh – nearly 400% more”, he wrote, adding that any ex-Infosys colleagues he refers to his current company, often receive an 80-100% hike, underscoring how underpaid they are at Narayana Murthy’s firm.

The former Infosys employee also revealed how his previous company gave insignificant annual salary hikes, in contrast to his current workplace where employees receive a 15-25% pay hike, annually. Infosys has a so-called “progression” system under which employees up sub-levels on paper, albeit with almost no change in responsibilities and minimal annual salary hikes of 4-6%, resulting in low take-home salary.

As per the user, “market correction” in salaries is a concept unheard of in Infosys, in contrast to other companies who periodically adjust salaries to match market trends.

Mandatory workhour quota

The reddit user also revealed that Infosys requires employees to complete a mandatory quota of work hours on campus, which is unsurprisingly in line with Narayana Murthy’s 7o-hour workweek belief. “This led to absurd scenarios like employees visiting the campus on weekends to complete laundry, just to meet the required hours.”

Noting that Infosys founders, including Narayana Murthy, are often in the news for their philanthropic ventures, the same generosity does not allegedly extend to their own employees, which has become a running joke amongst the company’s workforce.

Lengthy notice period, job security ‘myth’

The ex-employee also called out Infosys over its 3-month notice period, which is way above industry standard, and a massive barrier for employees wanting to switch jobs. He also busted the myth about “unparalleled job security” at Infosys, revealing that many of his former colleagues left the company for greener pastures and found new opportunities within months.

According to the user, unlike his current organization, Infosys did not provide free transportation, or even free parking space to employees, in addition to exorbitant prices for food and drinks at the office cafeteria. “A fresh fruit juice at my current workplace costs just Rs 15-20, thanks to company-subsidized rates. At Infosys, the same juice would cost Rs 40.”

The redditor ended his post by highlighting the need for systemic change and called introducing “minimum wage policy” in India in every sector. The post, which has now gone viral on reddit and other social media platforms, and drawn hundreds of responses from other users, many of whom shared similar work experiences.