The Hidden Cost of Staying in IT Services Too Long
This article is for the "Safe Player".
You work at TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, or Cognizant. You have been there for 6+ years. Your parents love your job because it is "stable".
You are comfortable. The campus is nice. The bench time is relaxing. You haven't given an interview in 4 years because the thought of LeetCode terrifies you.
But you look at your Product company peers earning 3x your salary and wonder: "What did I do wrong?"
Key Takeaways
- This piece focuses on career strategy realities in India, not outlier narratives.
- Compensation numbers should be interpreted with role scope, market cycle, and switching friction.
- Use decision frameworks and evidence checks before acting on title or salary headlines.
On This Page
The Expectation
You believe in Loyalty.
You think: "If I stick around, I will eventually become a Manager/Delivery Head. The On-Site opportunity is just around the corner."
You believe that "Experience" is measured in years. You think that 10 years at Infosys = 10 Years of Experience.
You think the "brand name" of a massive MNC protects you from irrelevance.
The Reality
The IT Services Career Trajectory:
đź“Š IT Services vs Product Company Growth
| Year | IT Services Path | Product Company Path | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Rs 4 LPA | Rs 10 LPA | -Rs 6 LPA |
| Year 3 | Rs 7 LPA | Rs 18 LPA | -Rs 11 LPA |
| Year 5 | Rs 11 LPA | Rs 28 LPA | -Rs 17 LPA |
| Year 8 | Rs 16 LPA | Rs 45 LPA | -Rs 29 LPA |
| Year 10 | Rs 20 LPA | Rs 60 LPA | -Rs 40 LPA |
By year 10, the gap is Rs 40 LPA annually. That's Rs 4 crore cumulative difference over a decade. The decision to stay in services has a multi-crore price tag.
Why Product Companies Pay More:
- You own outcomes, not hours
- Your work directly impacts product revenue
- Technical decisions require deeper expertise
- Competition for talent with other product companies
- Equity compensation adds 20-40% to TC
Services billing models (per-hour, per-resource) have built-in salary caps. Product revenue models can scale without proportional headcount.
Related context: Salary Reality Check, CTC Decoder, more in Career Strategy.
Salary and Growth Reality
The Financial Cost of Staying Too Long:
đź’° 10-Year Earnings Comparison
| Scenario | Year 0-2 | Year 3-5 | Year 6-10 | 10-Year Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay in IT Services | Rs 10L | Rs 28L | Rs 80L | Rs 1.18 Cr |
| Switch to Product at Year 2 | Rs 16L | Rs 72L | Rs 2 Cr | Rs 2.88 Cr |
| Switch to Product at Year 5 | Rs 36L | Rs 50L | Rs 1.5 Cr | Rs 2.36 Cr |
Leaving at year 2 vs staying for 10 years = Rs 1.7 Cr difference. That's not a small career decision.
The Hidden Costs Beyond Salary:
- Skills stagnation: Working on legacy systems while market moves to cloud-native
- Management-track-only growth: IC path caps early in services
- Resume branding: "8 years TCS" reads differently than "8 years Google"
- Network limitations: Your colleagues are all in services; fewer product connections
- Opportunity cost: Prime learning years spent on maintenance work
Cross-check your take-home with the CTC Decoder and compare ranges in Salary Reality.
Where Most People Get Stuck
Where IT Services People Get Stuck:
The Comfort Trap:
Promotions are predictable. Salary grows 10-15% per year. WFH is easy. Why rock the boat? Meanwhile, peers who left are earning 2x and building real ownership experience.
The Skills Gap Spiral:
You're working on legacy Java/.NET. Product companies want cloud, microservices, modern stack. You try to upskill but work doesn't allow practice. The gap widens each year.
The Interview Struggle:
Product company interviews ask about system design, ownership, impact. You've never designed a system—you implemented client specs. You've never owned a product—you were a resource. The interview exposes gaps training can't fill.
Escape Strategy:
- Leave by Year 3: The optimal window. Enough experience to be hired, not too long to be stigmatized.
- Build Side Projects: If stuck, create portfolio pieces using modern stack. Prove you can do more than legacy maintenance.
- Target Transition Companies: Startups often value hustle over pedigree. They're the bridge from services to better opportunities.
- Consider Tier-2 Product Companies: Not every exit needs to be FAANG. Even a well-funded startup beats services trajectory.
- Internal Transfer: Some services companies have product arms (TCS Products, Infosys NIA). Internal moves are easier than external jumps.
If this matches your current situation, run the Resignation Risk Analyzer before making your next move.
Who Should Avoid This Path
Signs You're Staying Too Long in IT Services:
- You've been "comfortable" for 2+ years: Comfort is stagnation in disguise
- Your technical skills are legacy-focused: Still working with technologies from 2015
- You haven't designed anything end-to-end: Only implemented client specs
- Product company interviews intimidate you: System design questions feel alien
- Your network is all services colleagues: No connections to product world
Comparison: IT Services Career vs Product Career
đź“Š Career Value Accumulation
| Factor | IT Services (10 years) | Product (10 years) |
|---|---|---|
| Technical depth | Shallow (many tech, none deeply) | Deep (mastery of few) |
| Design experience | Minimal (implement specs) | Extensive (own systems) |
| Ownership mindset | Resource/hour mindset | Product owner mindset |
| Future career options | Narrowing | Expanding |
| Interview performance | Struggles with design rounds | Strong design foundation |
Decision Framework
Use this quick framework before changing role, company, or specialization.
- If your take-home is not compounding with experience, benchmark externally before accepting internal narratives.
- If role expectations keep rising without title/pay movement, escalate with documented outcomes.
- If growth path is unclear beyond 6-9 months, run a switch-or-specialize decision cycle.
Common Mistakes Checklist
- Treating outlier salaries as planning baselines.
- Using title changes as a substitute for capability changes.
- Delaying market benchmarking until after compensation stagnates.
Real Scenario Snapshot
A professional stays in-role despite rising responsibility and flat pay. Growth recovers only after external benchmarking and a deliberate switch-or-specialize decision.
Originality Lens
Contrarian thesis: Career outcomes usually degrade from quiet trade-offs, not sudden failures.
Non-obvious signal: When responsibility rises but decision rights stay flat, stagnation risk rises even before pay slows.
Evidence By Section
Claim: Popular career narratives overweight edge cases and underweight base-rate outcomes.
Evidence: AmbitionBox Salary Insights, Glassdoor India Salaries
Claim: Observed market behavior diverges from social-media compensation storytelling.
Evidence: Glassdoor India Salaries, LinkedIn Jobs (India)
Claim: Salary and growth ranges vary by company type, leverage, and cycle timing.
Evidence: AmbitionBox Salary Insights, Glassdoor India Salaries, LinkedIn Jobs (India), Naukri Jobs (India)
Claim: Career plateaus are often linked to stale scope, weak mobility planning, and evidence gaps.
Evidence: LinkedIn Jobs (India), Naukri Jobs (India)
Final Verdict
The IT Services Reality:
IT services is a valid starting point but a dangerous long-term destination. The skills you build stop compounding around year 4-5. The resume perception shifts from "experienced" to "stuck." The salary gap to product companies widens irreversibly.
The Uncomfortable Question:
If you're 5+ years into IT services, what's your concrete plan to leave? "I'll apply next year" is what you said last year. Without a plan, you're defaulting to a services career ceiling.
What Actually Works:
- Set a firm exit deadline: 3 years max, 4 years absolute max
- Build a portfolio with side projects in modern stack
- Practice system design interviews specifically
- Network into product companies through events and connections
- Accept lateral moves if needed—getting in matters more than getting in at top salary
- Consider smaller startups that value hustle over pedigree
What Changed
- January 13, 2026: Reviewed salary ranges, corrected stale assumptions, and tightened internal links for related reads.
- December 23, 2025: Revalidated core claims against current hiring and compensation signals.
- December 23, 2025: Initial publication with baseline market framing and trade-off analysis.
Sources
- AmbitionBox Salary Insights (checked February 22, 2026)
- Glassdoor India Salaries (checked February 22, 2026)
- LinkedIn Jobs (India) (checked February 22, 2026)
- Naukri Jobs (India) (checked February 22, 2026)