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Tech writers' pockets get heavier

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

PUNE: Pune has turned out to be the highest paying city for technical writers in the country, according to a survey released by Society for technical Writers (STC) India Chapter. While Delhi ranks second , Bangalore comes in third. The average annual salary of a technical writer in Pune is Rs 5,25,796 as compared to Rs 5,12,697 in Delhi and Rs 5,03,534 in Bangalore, reveales the survey.

The survey depicts growth of 22.2 percent in the average salaries of Indian Technical Communicators as compared to the average salaries in 2003.

STC is the biggest association of tech writers in the world. The Indian chapter has more than 100 professionals.



STC president Makarand Pandit said that the present demand for technical writers in India is around 10,000 and an annual average income of tech writers is Rs four lakh. However, we can manage just about 5000, he said. “The export revenue through tech writing services for India is about Rs 270 crore and by the year 2010, this figure may touch Rs 720 crore,” he predicted.

The survey points out that salary levels of technical communicators with higher experience have increased more significantly compared to those at the entry level. Salary levels of Indian technical communicators are about 15 percent to 38 percent of those of the US counterparts. “The difference is higher in the lesser experience range. Salary levels in US increase at a faster rate than in India,” Pandit added.

Technical communicators with engineering background and those working as independent consultants are being offered higher salaries than the others. Team structure and size, organization type and size, certifications in technical communication or management education seem to have very little or no influence on salary levels.

According to the findings, about 70 percent of technical communicators in India are satisfied with their salaries. At least 50 percent of the technical communication jobs in India are created by the outsourcing trend and about 94 percent of the survey participants indicated that they work as permanent, full time employees. The survey reported that 70 percent of tech writers in India are satisfied with their income. Tech writers change their job after every three years.

To meet the required demand for tech writers, STC India Chapter has planned several activities. It has plans to organize a regional conference in Pune in either August or September.

STC has organized a job fair in Bangalore and a national conference is slated for Hyderabad in December.

To encourage students, STC has declared scholarships to five students of tech writing from this year onward.

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