IT professionals may get hike this year

IT professionals may get double-digit hike 

this year

Riding on the back of better functioning performance, tech companies are likely to dole out higher wage increases for employees in the current year. After an average 8-10% hikes last year, the IT staff can expect a double-digit increase in remunerations this year, industry body Nasscom said on Wednesday.

The assessment, based on an internal survey of Nasscom members, indicates that attrition levels and lateral hiring will also increase.

India's $118 billion InfoTech industry — the largest private sector employer in the country with more than 3.1 million on rolls — is projected to grow 13-15% as against 13.2% last year.

"Industry average hikes will be slightly higher than last year," Sangeeta Gupta, VP research at Nasscom, said on the sidelines of an HR summit in Chennai. She said effective middle managers will get the best rewards through increased variable pay and incentives.

READ ALSO: 'Indian IT faces gender pay gap of 29%' 

Middle management techies will get 11-15% hikes while entry and senior management will receive 5-10% increases. "These projections are made based on an internal survey which we did of our members. We received responses from over 100 firms which account for over 42 to 45% of IT revenues," she said.

The IT industry has instituted innovative incentive schemes to reward performance this year. Some of these include skill bonus, zero attrition unit incentive and project-based incentives, she said.

There will also be a shift in recruitment practices undertaken by companies. "The estimates are we will recruit 1.80 lakh employees this year (or a 6% increase) of which lateral hiring will be more than last year," she said.

A back of the envelope calculation shows nearly 3 out of every 10 are lateral hires in the tech industry. "We see a shift in this. There will be a 10% increase in lateral hires and reduced intake from campuses," Gupta said. Referrals and recruitments through job portals will rise.