IT Industry Leads Highest Paid Sectors; Manufacturing Follows

Manufacturing sector has been the second highest-earning sector in India in 2017 and is the only sector behind IT that is being paid median gross salary of above Rs 200 per hour threshold. The report is based on the WageIndicator dataset covering a period of 3 years, from January 2015 to December 2017 of 20,994 respondents, a 82 percent majority of which consisted of men. 

According to the Monster Salary Index report, manufacturing is the only sector amongst the eight captured in the report to see a notable increase of 9 percent in median gross hourly salary. The median gross salary in the manufacturing sector in 2017 at Rs 230.9 per hour is 5.2 percent more than the overall median gross salary of India which is Rs 219.4 per hour.

The report observes that IT sector paid median wage at Rs 317.6 per hour, the highest among all monitored sectors, but 17.8 percent less than the last year. This is one of the reasons why more than half (51 percent) were not satisfied with their jobs. Some other aspects contributing to job dissatisfaction are commuting time, work-life balance, and working hours. Interestingly, employees in the IT sector are most satisfied with their relationships at work. They rated their relationships with colleagues and supervisors at a high of 90 percent. 

Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO, Monster.com, APAC and Gulf said, “As Industry 4.0 continues to gain wider acceptance and reshapes the manufacturing industry, India is well positioned to become one of the largest manufacturing economies in the world. The momentum is mirrored by the increased median gross hourly wage recorded for the manufacturing sector in the Monster Salary Index. There are already clear signs of green shoots sprouting in pockets of local manufacturing in sectors as diverse as steel, auto, chemicals and energy and this is also reflected in the 60 percent  y-o-y growth in online hiring in the production & manufacturing sector till July 2018, as reported by Monster Employment Index.”

Mukherjee added, “The advent of automation and AI has brought about some uncertainty, but job creation is expected to continue with an impetus on upskilling and re-skilling the current workforce. The IT and BFSI sectors have shown a correction in wages and it isn’t surprising that pay satisfaction is low with only over 40 percent of employees satisfied with their salaries. While these sectors have shown an upward trend in hiring activity as per Monster Employment Index, companies could consider relooking at salaries in these sectors to boost employee satisfaction.’’

Rajguru Tandon

BW Reporters The author is a correspondent with BW Businessworld with keen interest in HR and employee welfare.