M Saraswathy Moneycontrol News
The appraisal season is around the corner and human resource consultants are anticipating an 8-10 percent hike for professionals in India. Among sectors, emerging companies and startups are expected to give the largest hikes while that in the Information Technology (IT) will be muted.
Thammaiah BN, Managing Director, Kelly Services India said that the salary outlay for average performers will be lesser than last year whereas top performers have higher or same as last year.
"E-commerce and startups will witness the highest salary increments. We also expect startups in the education and healthcare space to grow. Despite the layoffs that we have been seen in startups, talent would want to join and work in challenging workplaces," he explained.
From a high of 15-18 percent in 2006-07 period, salary hikes across companies in India Inc have seen a steady decline and has now fallen below 10 percent for most sectors on an average. The hikes for senior management are much lower at around 6-7 percent which may see an increase in the next financial year.
Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services explained that with hiring for very senior positions back on track, companies will take steps to retain officials in CXO positions.
"The hikes at senior levels have been 5-7 percent in the past two to three years which we believe will improve to 8-10 percent this year," he added.
With respect to the different sectors, automation could have an impact on the hikes and only individuals with specified skills that cannot be replicated by a machine will be at an advantage.
"In the IT sector, entry and mid-level talent in service companies will see the minimum salary increment because of adoption of new business models and newer technologies such as AI, Robotic Process Automation which will significantly reduce the manpower required," added Thammaiah.
Upskilling and adoption of new skills to aid the work process was an important theme of 2017 which is set to continue well into the next few years. Mishra explained that individuals with niche skills like data analytics, data mining and artificial intelligence will earn a premium and their hikes could well exceed 10 percent.
Among other sectors, consultants anticipate IT employees to have a hike of 6-8 percent while e-commerce may go upto 15-18 percent. Sectors like consumer durable and pharma could have an anticipated hike of 8-12 percent while engineering depending on new project take-off will have a hike between 8-11 percent.
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