Satyam restores variable pay of 28,000 employees

Mahindra Satyam, the new owner of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, has decided to restore variable pay for close to 28,000 employees across all levels from October this year, signalling recovery of the firm that was in deep financial distress after January this year.

Sweeteners such as performance-based Employee Stock Option Plans (Esops) for senior and middle-level associates, staggered cash bonus for select employees at the junior level and welfare allowances will also be reinstated by the company, once owned by the defamed founder B Ramalinga Raju. The financial outgo on account of these extra allowances will be negligible for the firm, as it had cut salaries for 7,000 associates placed on the virtual pool, said a senior official.

Satyam suspended variable pay from April this year to trim costs as revenues were under pressure after Raju admitted to fudging the IT firm’s books for several years. The remuneration package comprises of a variable and fixed component. The variable component is 10% at the entry level, 20% at the middle level and 30% at the senior management level. Half of the variable pay is a guaranteed-payment. The other half is linked to three parameters, including the performance of the company, the individual and the business unit.

“We owe our success to the unprecedented commitment to delivery excellence and support from our associates. This has been vital to our recovery. As we journey through this path towards total revival and growth, this is an expression of our gratitude to our associates,” said T Hari, chief people officer of Mahindra Satyam.

Around 35,000 employees were on the rolls when Pune-based Mahindra Satyam took over the management control. It placed around 7,000 associates on a virtual pool with a lower salary to trim costs. Employees on the virtual pool will, however, not be entitled to variable pay. Besides Satyam, other export-driven IT firms, used to a scorching pace of growth, trimmed variable pay for their employees after the economic downturn in the US.