A techie from Bengaluru has compared his nine-year stint at one of India’s largest IT companies to “slavery unleashed”, revealing his shocking experience in a post on Reddit. Despite nearly a decade of service, his monthly salary was only ₹35,000 when he left the company.
Today, while working for a global IT giant, his income has jumped nearly 400%, highlighting the glaring pay disparities he has endured.
His story highlights the systemic problems plaguing the organization. Low annual raises – often between 4 and 6 percent – left salaries stagnating, while a “progression” system simply moved employees down sublevels without salary increases or role expansion. “When I left after nine years, my monthly salary was ₹35,000. Today, I earn ₹1.7 lakh,” he wrote, calling for a change in the company culture.
In his Reddit post, the techie criticized policies that ignored market salary corrections, unlike his current and previous employers, who regularly adjusted salaries to match industry standards.
Employees at his former company faced single-digit raises, leaving them underpaid despite years of service. References to his new employer often earned former colleagues an 80 to 100 percent pay rise, highlighting the discrepancy.
Beyond salaries, the technician detailed other charges. Employees had to pay ₹3,200 per month for transportation, while parking charges further increased their expenses. Cafeteria fees were high, with a glass of juice costing ₹40, double what he currently pays at his current workplace.
The company imposed a minimum number of hours of physical work, monitored using identity cards. This led to employees going into the office on weekends for trivial reasons, like doing laundry, just to meet required hours.
While the company’s management projected a philanthropic image, employees often joked that some of this generosity could have been devoted to staff welfare and better salaries.
The technician called for systemic reform, advocating for a “minimum wage policy” across all sectors in India. Her story is not just a personal account but a rallying cry for fair treatment, better pay structures and labor policies that prioritize employee dignity.
