TCS employee claims salary dropped from Rs 25,000 to Rs 22,800 in 5.5 Years, His Reddit post goes viral
A TCS employee's viral Reddit post reveals how his monthly salary dropped after 5.5 years, sparking debate on appraisals, performance ratings, and career growth in India's IT sector.
Reddit user claims his salary reduced while working at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services company. Posting on r/developersIndia, a Reddit user stated that his salary reduced after working for more than five years at TCS. He claims that his monthly in-hand salary started at Rs 25,000 and currently stands at Rs 22,800 per month in April 2026.
Reddit user's salary slipped from Rs 25,000 to Rs 22,800
The TCS employee wrote in a Reddit post dated April 3 that he joined TCS in 2020 as a Java developer with a monthly salary of 25,000 in hand. He further claimed that his salary as of April 2026 is 22,800 which indicates that his salary slipped from the starting salary of 25,000. During the course of his employment, his performance bands kept changing, usually between C and D band at times.
User claims he was put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
Employee claimed in the post that after working for five years, he was placed on PIP for junior associates in July 2025. PIP stands for Performance Improvement Plan which is an initiative by most organizations to coach employees who have poor performance ratings. Reddit user also claimed he landed up with another internal project without informing his manager about being on a PIP. Further, he states that his appraisals were frozen and no increments came his way after that incident.
Learned new skills but job offers not materializing due to lower salary expectations
The employee has claimed that he learned skills as a Java Backend Developer earlier this year and was able to clear the technical interviews for the role. However, when recruiters from other organizations reached out to him for discussions, the employee claims that the salary slipped was raising doubts for HRs from other organizations who ended discussions abruptly. "Feels like IT Industry doesn't want me to survive," the user commented on the Reddit post. Users on the platform supported his claim and shared their own experience.
IT Industry experts share their opinion on Reddit user's salary concern
Several users advised him to focus on learning new skills or changing companies or start-ups where your skills may be valued more. Few users came forward with suggestions such as focusing on learning new skills while working and avoid job-hopping. Few industry experts believe that this Reddit post is an example of how demand and supply, performance bands, and compensation is changing within the IT sector. Few users also mentioned that there's a hiring freeze across IT Companies as companies are cutting their employee headcounts.
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