Infosys, Wipro are IT bluechips. But top executives are quitting in droves

livemint.com:

BENGALURU : Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd have each seen about two dozen executives at the rank of senior vice-president (SVP) and above leave under the tenures of chief executives Salil Parekh and Thierry Delaporte, respectively, underscoring the challenge of retaining senior leaders at the Bengaluru-based IT twins. Since Parekh took over as Infosys boss in January 2018, 22 executives at the rank of SVP and above have left, according to a review of the annual reports and press releases by Mint.

The country’s second-largest technology services firm gave Parekh, whose first five-year term was to run until January 2023, a second term in May last year; his current tenure runs from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2027. Infosys’s board may have believed that an early extension to Parekh could usher in stability.

But over the past 18 months, at least 11 executives have left, which is the same number of senior management departures witnessed under Parekh’s four-and-a-half years as CEO between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2022. Things are no better at Infosys’ cross-city rival Wipro, where 22 SVPs have moved out in the past three-and-a-half years since the company entrusted Delaporte with the CEO role in July 2020.

“Both Infosys and Wipro are facing a challenge retaining senior leaders," said the head of a global executive search firm, which works with the largest technology services firms. “A host of factors explains this, although Infosys has a better leadership bench." Queries sent to Infosys and Wipro were unanswered till press time.