47% of Indians Unhappy with Pay; 59% Saw Minimal Growth in 3 Years

According to a survey by foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME) which focused on a job platform, the most shocking 47% of Indian professionals pinpoint dissatisfaction towards low increments and unmet expectations in salary growth. Meanwhile, a reported 25% of respondents remain neutral, which in simpler terms means they do see salary growth as limited but not to the extent of worrying.

Only 46% from the region were able to claim that their salary stands at an average or exceeds it, on the other hand, 40% stated they believe their pay is below industry standards. It is important to mention that 14% of them do not have any idea about the salary average for their particular position.

Nonetheless, the trend seems to be that with accruing industry experience, employees’ understanding about the salary range in their industry increases and level of dissatisfaction keeps reducing.

Here are the key highlights of the report:

Entry-Level (0–3 years):

Fifty percent do not have any idea about the salary average for their level which happens to be the highest amongst all levels.

31% feel underpaid leads to the peak level of dissatisfaction in BFSI ranging above 42%.

Junior-Level (4–6 years):

Dissatisfaction shifts to 26% which demonstrates better transparency about the salaries.

26% believe their pay is above industry standards, most of whom are in IT-Software.

Mid-Level (7–10 years):

Dissatisfaction further falls to 18%.

Those claiming their remuneration is better than industry standards represents 22%, with IT-Software exceling. 

Senior & Executive (11+ years): 18% of senior professionals and 18% of executives believe their salaries exceed industry benchmarks. 

Satisfaction with Salary growth  

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47% of experts believe that their salary growth is unmet. Entry level professionals, or those with 0-3 years of experience, exhibit the highest level of dissatisfaction. Aside from Engineering, IT accounts the highest level of dissatisfaction (26% dissatisfaction). 

With the largest share of the distribution corresponding to Engineering & Production at 28%, followed closely by IT-Software at 14%, we also see a significant portion of the populace who are satisfied. 

25% remain neutral, indicating mixed perceptions of salary progression.  

Expected Salary Growth from Appraisal  

A considerable portion, amounting to 35% assumes only a Minor Hike (0-10%), suggesting low expectations with regards to salary increments across different professions. 

29% anticipate a Moderate Growth (11–20%) increment. 

A small number, amounting to 14%, forecast a Substantial Raise (21-30%), with specific figures varying across regions. 

Expectation of a High Appraisal (30%+) is held by 22%. There is considerable optimism among a few professionals, especially those with junior or entry-level positions. 

Entry level professionals portray the highest level of this phenomenon, with 20% foreseeing a subtle increase (0-10) and a notable 11% do expect significant raises (30%+).

Mid and senior level professionals are showing neutral sentiments whereby most expect moderate growth within a range of 11 to 20%. At these levels, large increases of 21% and above are comparatively less common, which signals realistic salary expectations as a career progresses. 

Few professionals anticipate high salary increases of 21% to 30%, and those are usually associated with mid-level career positions.  

Quite high appraisals above 30% are predominantly expected at entry and junior levels, however expectation of such at senior levels is harshly curtailed, thus strengthening the notion of slower salary progression for leadership roles. 

Aditional factors that affect salary progression are region, economic activity and function area, which essentially result in disparity of wage assignment across the globe. 

Over The Past 3 Years, 59% of professionals working in this particular field have stated experiencing little to no growth in comprehension of earnings resulting almost entirely from a deficit in economic output over the last 3 years.  

28% were happily able to see a noticeable growth for their specific roles while 13% experienced stagnation of earnings. 

Mandatory health care cost for self employed professionals and employees working for mid to smaller companies is bound to a prescribed ratio of the GDP add to the confusion due to lack of formation rules when dealing with a pension fund or split. 

An overall 77% of professionals believe their industries will strategically grow in the next couple of years whereas 20% believe it will remain neutral and only 3% assume otherwise. 

Entry level professionals are the least pessimistic with the IT-Software sector taking the lion’s share of 20%, and BFSI gaining 17%. For Engineering and General Production, it goes to 23%, and 18% for the IT level professionals.

Mid-career (12%) and junior (13%) level specialists also expect a moderate increase which mirrors specific focuses of the professionals on the Industry. 

On the other hand, only 7% of executives (15+ years of experience) estimate growth in their compensation and therefore appear to be more pessimistic on salary advancement at the leadership levels. Interestingly, only 9% of the lowest ranked professionals think that there will be no change in compensation while intermediate and senior employees (2-4%) are far more pessimistic. This indicates that there is a muted concern about salary stagnation among employees at large.