Salaries in India expected to rise the most: Study

Employees in India are expected to get the biggest hikes in salary in the Asia Pacific region this year, according to a new study. The study conducted by HR consultancy group Aon Hewitt said the rise, which will come amid inflation and robust economic growth, would also be among the highest in the world.

"India has outpaced Asia Pacific yet again with the highest salary increase in the region, followed by China and the Philippines, projecting nine per cent and seven per cent salary increase in 2011, respectively," the survey said.

According to a separate study by job portal, Naukri.com, India Inc would witness robust hiring this year on aggressive hiring in IT, automotive and construction sectors.

"India's salary rise would also be among the highest in the world. Companies are growing fast and demand is rising due to good economic growth," Nitin Sethi, India practice leader (compensation) Aon Hewitt, told reporters.

Sethi said the double-digit salary increases would continue for the next couple of years and are expected to be 12-15 per cent across industries. The study by Naukri found that hiring outlook remained positive across most of the sectors and it would continue into the coming months. The survey found that 80 per cent of recruiters expected new jobs creation in the first half of 2011. The findings reflect the positive sentiment in the country with the gross domestic product (GDP) poised to grow at over 9 per cent.

Corresponding with the uptick in the hiring sentiment, the salary hike is expected to be led by the engineering, automotive and infrastructure sectors, with engineering services expected to witness the maximum hike of 14.4 per cent while it would be 14 per cent each in the automotive and energy sectors.