According to CFO Asia magazine’s latest compensation survey Chief Financial Officers and other finance executives, CFOs as well as second-tier finance executives in India got highest pay hikes in Asia in 2007, beating out those in places like Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
While CFOs in India got a hike of 25 per cent in their salaries last year, that for financial controllers, treasurers and other second-tier finance executives rose by 28 per cent. This compared with 14 per cent hike in China, 11 per cent in Hong Kong, 14 per cent in Indonesia, 19 per cent in Malaysia, 10 per cent in Singapore and an Asia average of 16 per cent for CFOs.
For controllers, the second highest hike after India was seen in China at 13 per cent, followed by 12 per cent in Malaysia, 11 per cent in Indonesia, nine per cent in Singapore and five per cent in Hong Kong, resulting into an Asia average of 15 per cent. In terms of actual base salary, CFOs in India were paid an average of $92,206, third highest after Hong Kong and Singapore, but higher than Asia average of $59,846.
The average CFO salary in China was less than half of India at $41,990. For second-tier finance jobs, average salary in India stood at $39,888 — fifth highest after Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Talent crunch
The magazine said talent crunch is unlikely to ease despite threat of a US recession as many economist believed it might only cause a slowdown in Asia, rather than an “outright contraction.” According to CFO Asia, a leading finance magazine published by Economist Group, wage inflation in India is being pushed higher by business service companies, which are desperate to hire best young talent. The market supply side is starting to respond to the surging demand and in most places local universities are producing a steady steam of accounting graduates.
Interestingly, 28 per cent of CFOs were promoted last year, while 22 per cent of them switched jobs. However, only five per cent of CFOs in Hong Kong got promotions last year and 20 per cent of them changed jobs.
