IT beats other sectors in salary hike

NEW DELHI, INDIA: In order to retain the talent, IT & ITES companies in India are rising increments in the range of 25 to 30 per cent this year, while the average increments set by all domestic firms is between 15 to 20 per cent, said a survey.

Industry remuneration is being driven by companies in IT and banking & finance sectors which are paying well above market rates, according to Employment Outlook and Salary Guide 2010-11, a study on the employment conditions and salaries across key sectors released by India-based staffing firm Kelly Services.

Also read: India beats Europe in techies salary hike

As part of the Employment Outlook and Salary Guide, Kelly released trends across key verticals of banking & finance, engineering, call center and BPO, human resource, information technology, procurement supply chain and logistics, real estate, sales and marketing and shared a list of ‘Hot Jobs’ in each of these sectors.

The labor market was more resilient during the 2009 recession than in previous downturns. The employment rate fell in early 2009, only to recover to a large extent in the fourth quarter of 2009. This has paved the way for a slow and steady economic recovery in India in 2010, the study said.

Kamal Karanth, Managing Director, Kelly Services said, “Although organizations are expected to increase their hiring activities due to improved business confidence, we foresee that most of the talent pool, especially those in mid to senior management roles, will remain in their current organizations as positive job seekers who will only leave when there are substantial benefits such as an increase in salary or opportunities for career advancement.”

He added, “As for those in general roles, we expect marginal increases in salaries as there is an increasing trend where organizations look at other variable factors such as training and performance bonuses.

The study also said that there was an overall upward swing in hiring in 2010 in BPO/Call centers sector. It added that the hiring of engineers with specific skills is on the rise, while contractual and temporary job offers continue with project cycles.

The study found out that talent skilled in IT architecture and solutions continued to remain in demand as enhancements to existing systems are carried out. Big integration projects and plans to continue with projects that were put on hold during the recession in 2009 are driving IT employment.

The study further said that KPO has emerged as one of the leading hiring industries.