2009 salary report: Hewitt sees pay growth, lesser layoffs

In the season of frauds, slowdown and layoffs, here is some good news for Indian employees. According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, an HR consultancy firm, salaries would continue to rise and layoffs are not on employers’ mind.

“63% of the organisations surveyed are going to be looking at hiring,” Sandeep Chaudhry, Business Leader at the consultancy firm, said. “However, it is not really going to be the volume game that we have been witnessing for the last three-four years,” he added. “We will see more targeted and selective hiring at different levels of management and obviously [companies will go] for specialist skill sets.”

8.2%: Salary growth

The survey says salaries are projected to rise at an average of 8.2% in 2009, down from the 13.3% rate at which they grew last year.

India could be the safest bet for employment as only 16% Indian companies are considering layoffs as an option against 55% companies in America and 30.6% Chinese companies, the survey added.

Junior managerial employees can expect a maximum salary growth with a projected increase of 8.8% against 14.3%, which they achieved in 2008. The top management, according to the survey, can expect a relatively slower growth at 7.4% against 12.4% growth registered in 2008.

Stringent evaluation

The survey found that nine out of 10 companies are still giving promotions to deserving candidates. However, “Organisations are going to be far more strategic in the way they provide salary increases across levels of management and definitely more stringent in the way they evaluate performance to increase salaries,” Chaudhry said.

Pharma comes trumps

Sector-wise, the pharmaceutical industry is expected to see the maximum salary growth with an average projected increase of 13% followed by telecom services at a distant second with 11.3% and FMCG coming in at a close third with 11%.