Corporate pay hikes to kiss 12% this year

Corporate sector employees in India can expect to get salary hikes of around 12% in 2012, the global HR consultancy firm Aon Hewitt has forecast in its annual India salary increase survey. HT reports. Raises chipped, but India still shining

Corporate sector employees in India can expect to get salary hikes of around 12% in 2012, the global HR consultancy firm Aon Hewitt has forecast in its annual India salary increase survey.

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The projected wage hikes though marginally down in 2012, when compared with 12.6% hikes in 2011, are still highest across the world and underlie the fact that fundamentals of the Indian economy continue to be strong, despite the impact of the global slowdown.

“Despite an uncertain global macro-economic environment organisations are taking a long term view on talent which is being reflected in the salary hike numbers,” said Sandeep Chaudhary, practice leader at Aon Hewitt. Chaudhary said during recent weeks there have been encouraging signs on business sentiments.

In fact, the projected salary increases for most industries have slipped only by around 0.3 to 2.0 percentage points from last year. Chaudhary said these numbers mirror a positive yet cautious outlook.

Pharmaceuticals, engineering services and infrastructure, where growth is led by strong domestic demand, are projected to dole out the maximum wage hikes this year. Financial services and investment banking are expected to lag. “Salaries for investment bankers are expected to either remain flat or rise around 3%,” he said.