As companies like Accenture, SAP, and HSBC India implement stricter controls and revised policies, the shift signals a move towards prioritising productivity and operational discipline over broad-based perks amid global cost pressures.
Technology companies are sharpening controls over perks, travel and day-to-day work habits as they push employees to do more with less. The shift reflects a wider move in corporate India and beyond: after years of generous benefits and flexible spending, companies are now weighing each cost against output, attendance and operational discipline.
At Accenture India, the latest change concerns earned leave. Employees have been told they can carry forward unused earned leave until 31 August 2027, rather than seeing it lapse at the end of this August. That is a notable extension of the existing policy, which already allowed leave to roll over, but only up to a smaller cap. The company has also been urging staff to avoid meetings that do not add value, underlining the focus on making better use of working hours.
SAP has taken a different route, pausing internal travel while keeping customer-facing trips, its “All in on AI” programme and essential AI training in place. According to reporting on the company’s internal review, the German software group is also restoring tighter oversight of external spending. HSBC India, meanwhile, has reportedly tightened controls on cab bookings, with repeated no-shows potentially leading to loss of access unless a manager steps in to restore it.
The belt-tightening is not limited to India. Reuters has reported that Deloitte plans to trim some benefits for certain US staff from January 2027, including changes to paid family leave and the removal of reimbursement support for adoption, surrogacy and IVF. Zoom has also cut parental leave for some US employees. Taken together, the changes suggest companies are moving away from broad-based cost cutting and towards a more targeted approach: protecting the benefits that support productivity, while reducing spending that does not.
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