Indian IT companies among World’s Lowest-paying Employers: Study

Press Trust of India

>>India is among the world’s lowest paying employers in the IT space, with their mid-to-senior level staff getting an average salary of $36,120 (about Rs 18.5 lakh) per annum – less than one-fourth of the IT pay package at globally top-paying Swiss companies.

The IT sector salaries are highest in the world in Switzerland at an average of $167,890 (about Rs 87 lakh) per annum, as per a study titled ‘World wide IT Salary 2011’.  The study, conducted by global recruitment service provider MyHiringClub.com, found that India is ranked seventh on a list of the 10 worst IT paymasters globally.

On the other hand, Switzerland stands at the top spot among the top-paying nations in the IT sector. The study took into account the average salaries for people with six and more years of experience for the Indian and other companies.

The report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in more than 6,000 companies across 41 different countries and found that employers in Western Europe are the best paymasters.  It also found that compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. At the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower-paying countries.

“The impact of outsourcing and off-shoring on IT roles in North America and Western Europe helps explain the pattern of global pay. Lower-level roles are being moved to regions where talent is cheaper,” MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said.

“India continues to be amongst the leading destinations for IT development, given its cost advantage. However, salary inflation and talent shortage could emerge as major challenges in maintaining this position in future,” he added.

IT managers in India, however, fare better than their peers in Vietnam, Bulgaria, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at $28,940, $32,560, $32,980, $33,000 and $35,870, respectively.  Also, large pay gaps exist between the junior and senior career streams in India, Indonesia, Chile, Brazil and Vietnam, the survey said.

Among the best IT salaries paying countries, Switzerland was followed by Belgium at the second spot with an average annual salary of $1,42,570.

Denmark came third in the best-paid list with average IT sector salary of $1,32,430, followed by the UK and the US in the to-five, with average packages of $1,26,570 and $1,21,460 respectively.