Pay Hike of 10-12% Seen by Analysts as Job Market in Sweet Spot

New Delhi: If you have the skill, flaunt it. The job market is buzzing and companies, in order to reward and retain employees, are expected to dole out an average 10-12 per cent hike while for key talent, the increase would be around 30 per cent this appraisal season, say experts.

At a time when the domestic economy is veering towards stability and the uptick in the US economy is supporting the services sector, there is a massive demand for talent and in order to contain attrition, companies are willing to go the distance to offer top-up benefits.

"Lots of innovative benefits are expected to be introduced, apart from car, luxury watches, smartphones, iPads, family holidays, flats while start-ups are expected to offer ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) for key resources," said Sunil Goel, managing director at executive search firm GlobalHunt.

Mr Goel further said that in this appraisal cycle, while the whole industry average will be around 10-12 per cent, the 'top performer' will get a 15-20 per cent hike, the 'performer' 10-15 per cent and the 'above average' 6-10 per cent.

Analysts, however, say that there's a catch: Money is not the only retention factor and the "scope of work" is also a big driver.

"Good or bad appraisals will be a big motivator for movements, the kind of opportunities available in the market are quite challenging and start-ups, in particular, are offering work culture that's significantly more attractive than conventional organisations," said Joseph Devasia, managing director at Antal International India.

Mr Devasia further said the boom in the e-commerce and mobility sectors means expected hikes in these industries will be 15-25 per cent while they will be muted for most others. For sectors like manufacturing and auto, it may be very low (7 per cent).

FMCG and consumer-oriented industries will witness some 10-15 per cent increase whereas certain key skills like digital marketing, analytics, mobility will go at a premium rate of 15-30 per cent, more from a retention perspective, Mr Devasia added.

According to the Aon Hewitt Salary Increase Survey 2015, organisations are putting in place separate retention plans and policies to keep their top talent.

While rewards as a retention tool continue to flow to ring-fence top talent, programmes around leadership opportunities and coaching, overseas assignments and fast-track programmes for hi-potential staffers are fast gaining prominence.

Of the over 500 organisations surveyed, 76 per cent indicated an increase in their 'benefits budget'.

Attrition still remains a sticking point. India Inc's rates on this front in 2014 were broadly at par with 2013 at 18.1 per cent, but key talent attrition has seen a significant jump in 2014 to 5.9 per cent compared to 4.5 per cent in 2013.