TNN
New Delhi, Feb 20: Here's some news that beats the gloom. Despite the economic slowdown, a majority of Indian companies are still hiring employees, reveals a survey conducted by HR consultancy firm Hewitt. That's not all.
The survey says the average salary hike in India in 2009 will be 8.2% - the highest in the Asia Pacific region.
Though the projected salary hike is understandably lower than the increase of 13.3% seen in 2008, it's higher than the estimates for China, which is pegged at 8%. By comparison, salaries are expected to rise by 3.2% in the US and 2.3% in Japan, the report says.
Hewitt said the survey was conducted on 480 Indian companies over December 2008 and January 2009.
The sectors expected to see the highest raises are the ones that cater directly to consumers, such as FMCG, durables and telecom, the survey said. Healthcare is another sector that is doing well globally and in India. In 2008, hospitals had awarded the lowest salary increases but have been placed among the top five sectors for 2009.
In fact, with inflation well below 5.5%, an average increase of 8.2% can be considered healthy, the survey noted.
According to Hewitt, employees at the junior manager, professional and supervisor levels are expected to receive the highest increases for the ninth year in succession. Hear of Hewitt's performance and reward consulting practice in India, Sandip Choudhary, said that less than 16% of companies in India were considering retrenchments while more than 60% are still hiring. Nine out of every 10 companies were still giving promotions while only 0.83% of companies were resorting to salary cuts, he added.
As against this, 55% of companies in the US, 30.6% in China, 32% in Australia, 20% in Thailand and 17% in Japan were considering laying off their employees to cut costs in the face of economic recession.
Choudhary said, in India, most companies were facing the downturn by drastically cutting down on luxuries and discretionary expenses such as non-billable travel and entertainment, with greater focus on prudence and productivity. "The intent is to avoid layoffs to the extent possible by limiting other spends," he said.
Most companies, he said, would need to redeploy human resources and make largescale realignments to the organization in the current economic climate. Investments in talent, however, will continue, he said.
This is the first time in six years that India is likely to see single-digit salary increases.