A post by a Java developer on the social media platform Reddit is rapidly going viral. It has sparked a debate across the IT sector. In the post, the individual recounts his ordeal...

A Java developer's social media post goes viral; learn how his salary decreased instead of increasing even after 5 years.

IT Employee Salary Reduced: A post by a Java developer on the social media platform Reddit is rapidly going viral. It has become a topic of debate across the IT sector. In the post, the individual recounts his ordeal, in which his salary has decreased instead of increasing despite working for a long time.

According to the post, after working at TCS for more than five years, his in-hand salary has been steadily declining. Let's find out why this post is generating so much discussion.

What is the whole matter?

A young man from Mumbai started working as a Java developer at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2020 after graduating from a tier-3 college. At that time, his in-hand salary was around 25,000 rupees. Surprisingly, by January 2026, after nearly five and a half years of work, his take-home salary had dropped to 22,800 rupees.

It's common to see a significant salary increase after five years of experience in the IT sector. However, in this case, instead of increasing, the salary decreased, which has sparked discussion.

The employee himself explained the reason.

The employee admitted that he didn't focus enough on coding skills and learning new technologies early on in his job. He was also preparing for a government job while working, and this began to impact his office work. Over time, his performance on projects deteriorated, and he repeatedly received low ratings such as "C" and "D."

In the IT sector, these ratings indicate that the employee is not meeting the set standards. Consequently, the company placed him on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Although he retained his job, his salary increases and appraisals were completely halted.

This is how the salary decreased.

When an employee's performance rating drops, the first impact is on their variable pay. The company typically makes variable pay cuts based on performance. This may have been the case with the young man.

Meanwhile, over time, tax rules change and mandatory deductions like provident fund (PF) increase. If basic salary remains unchanged and deductions continue to rise, in-hand salary is bound to decrease.