Infosys CEO addresses low salary hike, toxic work culture claims amid raging industry-wide 90-hour workweek debate

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh expressed concerns about the alleged IT major's toxic work culture during its Q3 earnings call on January 16.

Parekh was asked about allegations of the company's salary hikes and toxic work culture during the earning call, sparked by a former employee's revelations on the working conditions in the IT  bellwether. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had also sparked a controversy after his remarks on a 70-hour workweek.

What did Infosys Chairman say?

“In terms of the employee question, within Infosys, we have a very clear approach to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. We have a well-defined process of looking at how the performance is driven,” Parikh said.

The Infosys CEO's response comes after he was asked about claims about the company's work culture. He especially mentioned Bhupendra Vishwakarma, a former Infosys employee whose LinkedIn post has gone viral.

Question on toxic work culture at Infosys

“Bhupendra said a lot of things on LinkedIn, on the culture, the work culture. What are your views on that?” a Moneycontrol reporter asked Parekh.

Bhupendra, in a LinkedIn post, listed all the reasons why he quit the company despite having no new job offers and being the sole breadwinner in the family. The reasons include no financial growth despite getting a promotion, unfair workload redistribution, stagnant career prospects, toxic client environment, lack of recognition and onsite opportunities and regional bias.

“During my time at Infosys, I faced several systemic issues that ultimately forced me to make the difficult decision of leaving without an offer in hand. I want to speak openly about these challenges because they are indicative of larger problems in corporate workplaces,” Bhupendra wrote on LinkedIn.

90-hour work week debate

The Infosys CEO's claims come at a time when the L&T Chairman S N Subramanyan advocated for working on Sundays as well.

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays,” said the L&T chairman in a Reddit video that emerged online.