Slowdown may hit salary hikes

With the economic slowdown hitting business plans, those engaged in the financial services sector are set to get about 6-9% pay hikes for the next fiscal year compared to about 10-15% given in the previous year. Mahua Venkatesh reports.

With the economic slowdown hitting business plans, those engaged in the financial services sector that includes commercial and investment banks are set to get about 6-9% pay hikes for the next fiscal year compared to about 10-15% given in the previous year.

“The quantum of hike in almost all cases will be in single digits, though the process of appraising employees has just started,” a senior executive working in the human resource (HR) department of an MNC bank said.

The going has been tough for several companies including high profile banks due to the global slowdown led by uncertainty in the US and European markets. Many have also announced job cuts to reduce operational costs.

"We are expecting meagre hikes, there is huge stress on costs and sentiments are still low," said a mid-level executive at HSBC who did not wish to be identified.

Industry insiders said that the days of hefty hikes which went up to as high as 20-25% for commercial and investment bankers during 2000 to 2007 could well be a thing of the past.

“Firms today are getting realistic about salary hikes and in most cases, the organisations want to bring it down to a sustainable level,” Dev Bharat, director, Executive Access India, a HR firm said.