Pay hike in India to average 13% this year: Aon Hewitt study

A survey by HR consultancy firm Aon Hewitt has projected a 12.9% average hike in pay packets for India in 2011. In the year 2010, the increase was at 11.7%. The double-digit salary increases in India would continue for the next couple of years and is expected to be 12-15% across industries, the survey showed. India is followed by China and the Philippines, which have salary rise projections of 9% and 7%, respectively.



Though the hiring outlook is at the highest level since 2005, the rise in salaries is yet to reach pre-crisis levels. In 2008, the Aon Hewitt survey revealed that pay packets were 13.3% fatter. In terms of real growth, after inflation, it was higher in 2011 at 5.9%, compared to 5.1% in 2008.

Aon Hewitt's Nitin Sethi, however, said that in India, the inflation rate was not the key factor for determining salary hikes. "Instead, it is determined by demand and supply," he said. In terms of performance, the survey showed that the top performers are in line to get an average hike of 17.8%, while the next best - those who exceeded expectations - could get a 13.6% raise.