IBM on Monday said it would give $1,000 worth of shares as bonus to each of its over one lakh employees in India as part of its centennial celebrations.

'Big Blue' will celebrate 100 years of existence on 16 June this year, even as the information technology industry emerges from the recession.

To mark the occasion, IBM will give each of its non-executive employees globally a $1,000 stock bonus. "IBM employees globally, except those at the executive level, will receive $1,000 in stock bonuses," an IBM India spokesperson said.

He declined to comment on IBM's India headcount, since the company does not disclose country-level employee numbers. However, industry analysts peg the strength of the company's India-based workforce at around 1,28,000. IBM has 400,000 employees globally.

"The company is still working on the eligibility criteria for the bonus. However, one of the criteria is that the person has to be an employee (full-timers and part-timers included) of IBM or its wholly-owned subsidiaries before 31 December 2010," the spokesperson said. Also, since these stock incentives will not vest until 2015, anybody quitting the company before 16 June 2015 will no longer be eligible to receive shares.

Eligible IBM employees will be offered 'restrictive stock units' (RSU), under which the employee will be promised returns on the stocks awarded without actually owning them. This means that at a stock value of $159 (as on 28 January), the $1,000 stock bonus will translate into six or seven stock units. And given that IBM's shares have more than doubled over the past five years, these employees can look forward to reaping rich dividends.

IBM reported revenues of about $100 billion and a record free cash flow of $16.3 billion in 2010.

Sam Palmisano, chairman of IBM, is expected to visit Bangalore during the second week of February and trigger the company's centenary celebrations by addressing employees, apart from holding meetings with IBM's customers and scientists at Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science.

In a year when TCS, Infosys and Wipro are preparing to fight to attract and retain talent, IBM's latest move is expected to force others to explore stock-based incentives apart from other perks. As these IT firms prepare to cope with rising demand for outsourcing, India has become the battleground to hire the most and retain the best performers.

"Hundreds of thousands of IBMers, virtually all across the globe except those at the executive level, will receive these stock bonuses," said the IBM India spokesman.

In an email message to IBM staff across the globe on 21 January, Palmisano said: "Our long-term success is the product of the work, innovation and superior execution of more than 400,000 IBMers."In recognition of this, I am delighted to announce that all non-executive IBMers who performed consistently over the 2010 roadmap period will receive a grant of $1,000 of IBM stock, where permitted, which will vest at the end of the next roadmap, in 2015."

"Working for a company that's been around for hundred years is itself a bonus, but this is a great gesture, and it looks like nobody will be left out," said an IBM India employee based in Bangalore.

IBM's latest bounty for its staff is set to trigger a rethink among Indian tech firms already planning promotions and other incentives to keep their payroll intact.

Coming out of last year's recession when these tech firms trimmed their payroll and tightened perks to cope with the crisis, the top three software exporters alone plan to add nearly 100,000 new staff in 2011, much higher than just 20,000 they added last year.

While TCS, the country's biggest software exporter plans to double the number of promotions this year, both Infosys and Wipro are set to dole out at least 100 per cent variable pay along with double-digit salary hikes to their staff in 2011. For the first time since 2005-2007 when the industry offered 13-15 per cent salary hikes, double-digit wage inflation is set to make a comeback next year.