TCS CEO's pay rises to ₹28cr amid 23,460 job cuts
What's the story
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO and Managing Director K Krithivasan's total remuneration for FY26 has been pegged at ₹28.1 crore, a 6% increase from the previous year's ₹26.5 crore, as per the company's annual report. The report also highlighted a significant reduction in TCS's workforce over the same period, with a net headcount decline of 23,460 employees year-on-year.
Salary details
Krithivasan's remuneration 332.8 times median salary
Krithivasan's compensation package for FY26 included ₹1.67 crore as salary, ₹1.43 crore in benefits, perquisites and allowances, and a whopping ₹25 crore as commission. This makes his remuneration 332.8 times that of the median salary of TCS employees. Aarthi Subramanian, the company's Chief Operating Officer (COO), earned a total remuneration of ₹18.3 crore in FY26 with similar components to Krithivasan's pay structure.
Workforce changes
TCS workforce declines by over 23,000 employees
TCS ended FY26 with a total of 584,519 employees on its rolls, down from 607,979 at the end of FY25. This marks a reduction of 23,460 employees year-on-year. The company has said that this decline is part of restructuring and workforce realignment measures undertaken over the past year to build a "future-ready organization" with an increased focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies.
Global impact
Restructuring impacts senior management roles
TCS had earlier said that around 2% of its global workforce, or nearly 12,000 employees, were impacted by the restructuring and workforce optimization measures. This primarily affected middle and senior management roles. However, TCS clarified that the entire headcount decline should not be interpreted as layoffs alone as attrition and normal employee movements also contributed to this reduction.
Remuneration adjustments
Median employee remuneration up by over 5%
TCS's annual report also revealed that the median remuneration of employees increased by 5.1% during the financial year. Junior and mid-level employees in India received annual increments between 4.5-7%, while top performers got double-digit hikes. Employees outside India received wage increases between 1-6%. The firm said these adjustments are in line with market trends in respective countries, and variable pay remains linked to organizational and individual performance.