After months of hunting, Intel finally appointed a new CEO — 65-year-old Lip-Bu Tan — and investors cheered the news. Intel’s shares rose more than 15 per cent after the announcement. Tan, Intel said, is an accomplished technology leader with deep semiconductor industry experience. He will be CEO effective March 18 and succeeds interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus.

The Malaysian-born, Singapore-raised naturalised American had been CEO of chip design software firm Cadence Design Systems, where his leadership qualities stood out as he lifted the fortunes of the company. The question is whether he will be able to replicate the success at troubled Intel — especially as he is up against stiff competition from Jensen Huang-led Nvidia and Lisa Su-led AMD. He has already told Intel employees that “It won’t be easy”. But his mantra of “Stay humble, work hard, delight our customers” is a sound one.

Increments will be low

It’s grim news for employees on the pay front. Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2025 says there is a clear focus among companies on optimising compensation cost budgets, with pay increases for 2025 being forecast at 8.8 per cent (compared with 9 per cent in 2024). The survey shows 75 per cent of companies will either reduce or keep their pay increases the same as last year. Furthermore, while most sectors will keep the increment growth stable or moderately less than the previous year, the consumer products sector expects a significantly lower increment budget.

Of course, companies will try to retain top performers, but even they will get a moderately lower increment compared to last year. Top performers can expect a 1.7x higher increment than average performers. Most companies expect to not increase their promotion-linked pay hikes compared with previous years.

Prakhar Tripathi, Partner, Deloitte India, said, “In an environment where companies are witnessing muted revenue growth, compensation budgets are naturally coming under pressure.”

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Published on March 16, 2025