Corporate thought-leader and Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy has flayed the high wage hikes that senior managements have been apportioning to themselves when the software industry is in trying times and has advised them to make “sacrifices” to maintain common man’s faith in capitalism.
Conceding that times are difficult for the IT services sector, Mr. Murthy dismissed the commonly attributed threats of artificial intelligence and automation as “more hype than reality.”
Terming the trend of no hikes for juniors and freshers as “worrisome,” Mr. Murthy rued that senior level people have been taking handsome hikes.
“I think that is not the way to make capitalism acceptable to the larger masses in a country that has huge poverty,” he said, speaking at IIT-Bombay.
“If we believe in capitalism, if we believe that is the best solution for the country to move forward, then the leaders of capitalism will have to demonstrate self-restraints in apportioning to themselves the part of the benefits that come out of running companies,” Mr. Murth added.
Mr. Murthy, a strong proponent of “compassionate capitalism” since his days in the company, did not make any reference to Infosys.
