Blind survey: 1 in 3 Indian tech workers got no hike or a pay cut
By Anika SharmaAI & Innovations Editor, Peepals Tech
Representative image: F1Digitals / Pixabay
A Blind survey of 2,178 India-based tech professionals, run October 15-26, 2026, found 35% got no raise or a pay cut; 63% are unhappy with appraisals.
What Happened
About one in three tech professionals in India received no salary increase or took a pay cut in this year's appraisal cycle, according to a survey by Blind, the anonymous workplace app for professionals. Blind surveyed 2,178 India-based tech workers between October 15 and October 26, 2026, and published the results at the end of October. It found that 35% got no raise (30%) or a pay cut (5%), and that 63% of all respondents are dissatisfied with their appraisal.
Key Facts
- Sample: 2,178 India-based professionals on Blind, surveyed from October 15 to October 26, 2026.
- 30% said they received no salary hike and 5% said their pay was cut, a combined 35%.
- 59% received a raise of 5% or less, including those who got nothing, up from 34% in Blind's 2025 survey.
- 63% are dissatisfied with their appraisal, including 47% who are very dissatisfied; among those with no raise or a cut, 83% are dissatisfied.
- 41% blamed their company's financial performance or cost-cutting, 18% pointed to AI and automation, and 22% cited their own performance rating.
- Among respondents from Zoho, 95% said they got no raise or a pay cut; the share was 60% at Oracle, 42% at Salesforce, 40% at Cisco and 36% at Amazon.
Why It Matters
An appraisal is the yearly review in which an employer decides a worker's pay rise, bonus or promotion. For most of the last decade, India's tech workers could count on a raise each year, and switching jobs often brought a bigger one. This survey suggests that pattern has weakened. A year ago, about a third of respondents got 5% or less; this year it is close to six in ten. A small raise also means a smaller base for the next one, so a flat year affects pay for years after.
The reasons workers gave matter as much as the numbers. Most respondents did not blame their own performance. Four in ten said their employer was protecting its margins or cutting costs, and nearly one in five said AI and automation played a part. That second group reflects a wider debate in the industry: as companies spend heavily on AI tools, computing power and data centres, some are holding back on pay and hiring. Zoho, the Chennai-headquartered software company, stood out in the survey. Its founder Sridhar Vembu has said publicly that the company told staff it could not give its usual annual increase this year, citing a sharp rise in server prices for its data centres and the growing cost of using AI.
There are limits to these figures. Blind's respondents are its own users who chose to answer, not a random sample of India's tech workforce, and the company-level numbers rest on smaller groups of people. The survey is still one of the few up-to-date snapshots of how this year's appraisal season has gone, taken in the last fortnight of October when most results had just been shared with staff.
For a reader planning a tech career, the message is to look past the headline salary. A worker weighing a job change should ask about the appraisal cycle, how raises were handled this year, and how the company is funding its AI plans.
Impact
Short-term: Many employees who got small or no raises are likely to look for new jobs, though hiring has been uneven. Some have started talking about collective action: in a separate, smaller Blind poll after a Zoho employee's post, 54% of 165 voters said they would join collective action.
Long-term: If companies keep shifting money from pay towards AI spending, average raises in Indian tech may stay low, and the gap between workers with in-demand skills and the rest may widen.
Who is affected: Software engineers, IT services staff and employees of global capability centres and product firms in India; freshers negotiating their first offers; and families who budget around an annual raise.
Key Takeaway
Blind's survey of 2,178 Indian tech professionals found 35% got no raise or a pay cut in 2026 and 59% got 5% or less, with most blaming cost-cutting rather than their own performance.
Questions and Answers
What did the Blind survey find about tech salary hikes in 2026?
Of 2,178 India-based tech workers surveyed from October 15 to 26, 2026, 30% got no salary hike and 5% got a pay cut. In all, 59% got a raise of 5% or less, up from 34% in 2025, and 63% said they were dissatisfied.
Which companies had the most workers with no raise?
Among Blind's respondents, 95% of those at Zoho reported no raise or a pay cut, followed by Oracle at 60%, Salesforce at 42%, Cisco at 40% and Amazon at 36%. These company figures come from smaller groups of respondents.
Why are pay hikes lower this year?
41% of respondents blamed their company's finances or cost-cutting and 18% pointed to AI and automation; only 22% said it came down to their own performance rating. Zoho's founder has linked his company's decision to higher server and AI costs.
How reliable is the survey?
It reflects the answers of Blind's own users who chose to take part, so it may not represent all tech workers in India. It is best read as a signal of the mood in this year's appraisal season.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Anika Sharma, AI & Innovations EditorCovers AI & Innovation and more for Peepals Tech. All stories by Anika Sharma
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Anika Sharma is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
