These 5 companies are giving hikes to employees during coronavirus crisis
In this unprecedented time when companies are choosing to either retrench or cut salaries, few delightful exceptions are offering hikes.
In the last few months, coronavirus has impacted the lives of people globally. According to the Health Ministry, India has a more than 78,000 confirmed cases, with 2,415 deaths reported.
The country has been under a nationwide lockdown for over 50 days, starting from March 25. While social distancing will play a key role in helping curb the further spread of the virus, the impact of COVID-19 can be seen across industries.
To survive the pandemic the companies across the globe are either letting go of their employees or introducing pay cuts. Despite PM Modi’s advisory to private and public companies not to lay off or cut salaries of employees, job loss and salary cuts are hitting Indians hard.
But in the midst of this pandemic, where most companies are saving up for the unforeseeable future, there are a few which have prioritised their employees’ benefits. Here are five such companies that are offering hikes even during these difficult times.
Capgemini
French IT firm Capgemini has announced a salary hike for 70 percent of its employees in India in April. For the rest, the increments will be effective from July.
In an interview with YourStory, India CEO, Ashwin Yardi stated,
“At Capgemini, we are going ahead with increments and promotions for all junior professionals effective from April 1, 2020. This will ensure coverage for more than 70 percent of our colleagues in this cycle. For senior consultants/managers and above, salary increments will be effective from July 1, 2020, with increment letters being released in June. This will be done as per our plan and in line with our commitment to ensure market competitiveness across all grades.”
Ashwin Yardi, CEO of Capgemini India
Also, the company will continue to hire as per the plans and client requirements. Employees who have joined the company during the lockdown are completing their onboarding formalities online, according to Ashwin.
He further stated, “The virtual onboarding involves completion of joining formalities and a walkthrough of our policies. In a new initiative, our Group IT team is sending desktops or laptops to the employee’s home along with stepwise instructions to configure and connect remotely to the Capgemini network in a secure manner via VPN. It enables faster deployment to work, adheres to social distancing norms set by the government and enables work from home with required security guidelines.”
Apart from these, in order to provide emotional support to its employees, it has launched a series of wellness initiatives. Regular webinars, in association with their external partners, are being conducted on topics like anxiety and stress.
BharatPe
Digital fintech startup has also decided to give its employees a hike. According to the company statement, BharatPe has done its annual appraisals as per the original schedule from April 1-7. The top performers scoring 3.8/5 or higher have all been given 20 percent plus increment in the appraisals.
Commenting about this unprecedented time, CEO and Co-founder Ashneer Grover was quoted as saying,
“We have used this time to strengthen the tech and product and will be aggressively acquiring merchants and lending to them. We want to lend $100 million to small merchants from here till the end of the year.”
Ashneer Grover, CEO and Co-founder BharatPe
Tesco
Tesco Bengaluru, the global technology services arm of United Kingdom-headquartered retailer Tesco, has announced that it will honour all the job offers it has made, and roll out promotions and hikes as scheduled.
Established in 2004, Tesco Bengaluru is a multi-disciplinary centre to provide solutions and services for the retail industry.
Sumit Mitra, CEO, Tesco Business Services & Tesco Bengaluru, said,
“We believe that our success is through our colleagues, and therefore, creating the right support structure is essential. We ensure that all hiring offers are honoured with no changes to salary packages or joining dates."
“With this commitment, we also promise that annual appraisals and performance reviews, including hikes and promotions, will be held as scheduled. It’s our responsibility to reward the hard work and commitment of our colleagues over the last year,” a press release said.
As a measure to extend the safety of the employees in the current environment, Tesco Bengaluru has enhanced the medical insurance coverage, has offered additional payment towards home utilities and internet charges, etc.
Flipkart
Earlier in April, in a virtual townhall, CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy assured its employees that there would be no pay cuts and that all job offers, including internships, will be honoured.
“Flipkart is safe and (financially) healthy. There is no cause to worry. And the key priority is to keep all employees safe,” said Krishnamurthy.
Flipkart Group CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy
It currently employs 8,000 people on a permanent basis and recently said that it would add another 1,200 to its technology and engineering teams in the coming financial year.
Myntra
Online fashion retailer and part of the Flipkart group, has announced that all job offers that were in the pipeline will be honoured.
Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra confirmed this initiative stating that,
“As we went into the lockdown, our performance evaluation process was underway and our employees were probably anxious about their promotions and increments. We, as an organisation, took a call to continue with the due process of appraisals, uninterrupted or impacted by the macro-economic situation prevalent at this time. We also honoured all job offers that were in the pipeline and onboarded our new recruits virtually.”
Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra
“Myntra has also taken several measures to ensure the safety of its supply chain and delivery network, including regular deep-cleaning and sanitisation of its facilities. All delivery partners have also been equipped with sanitisers and protective masks, and are covered by a COVID–19 insurance which includes pay and benefits in case they are quarantined or diagnosed with the disease,” he added.
Also, recently, the company announced a partnership with Wildcraft, an outdoor clothing and footwear brand, to offer personal protective masks (PPE) on its platform.
According to Myntra, the ensuing shortage of protective masks due to the ongoing lockdown has prompted it to collaborate with Wildcraft and cater to this demand.
Edited by Kanishk Singh