'Expect mild salary hike this year'

IT sector is projected to get 10.8% salary hike: Survey

Indian companies will restrain from doling out aggressive pay increases this year while the hike for startups will be substantial, a survey by HR consultancy Aon Hewitt said.

It said India Inc will hand out an average of 10.3 per cent salary hike in 2016, which is lower than 10.6 per cent, last year.

“Lower inflation rates in the economy have helped companies decide on the reduced salary increases, without creating too much of a disruption in the lives of employees,” according to Anandorup Ghose, partner at Aon Hewitt in a survey of 700 companies.

Sectors such as life sciences, media, and consumer products are projecting an increase higher than the market average.

“Early stage companies/startups stand out despite being in the pre-profit stage for over three years, and continue to have an aggressive stand on pay. At 15.6 per cent salary increase projected for 2016, they feature as number one, with the closest second being life sciences at 11.6 per cent,” the survey said.

It said the IT sector, which employs nearly four million people, is projected to get 10.8 per cent salary hikes this year. Employees in media and consumer products are also projected to get a hike higher than the market average, according to the survey.

Employees in the financial, metals, telecom, logistics, infrastructure and energy sectors are likely to get lower hikes.

According to the survey, high-performers should not worry about lower compensation budgets this year. It also pointed to a drop in attrition rate to 16.3 per cent, the lowest that corporate India has observed since the 2009 financial crisis.