A recent survey brought good tidings for the salaried class in India. The Willis Towers Watson survey on salary trends stated that there will be a median increase of 9.3 percent in salaries in 2022, as against an increase of 8.1 percent in 2021. This translates to an average increase in salaries of 8.8 percent in 2022, as against an average increase of 7.4 percent in 2021, the Salary Budget Planning Report stated.

In comparison, Chinese firms are projected to pay a 6% increase, Singapore and Australian firms around 3.8%, and Vietnam an 8% increase to employees, indicating a bright domestic economic outlook in these countries.

The latest forecast is almost similar to the 9.4% pay hike by Indian companies projected in an Aon salary survey in September. The Willis Towers Watson salary budget planning report said IT, retail, and pharma sectors are likely to be the leading paymasters next year.

As a large emerging market, India continues to project the highest salary increase for 2021 in the Asia Pacific region. Sri Lanka is projected to see an increase of 5.5%, China at 6.0%, Indonesia at 6.9%, and Singapore at 3.9%.

Rajul Mathur, Consulting Leader India, Talent and Rewards, Willis Towers Watson said in a statement: “Increased business optimism is clearly translating into higher salary budgets and increased hiring activity. The pandemic was a watershed moment in the way organizations plan their people’s spending. While talent attraction and retention remain a challenge, the core employee value proposition will now need to go beyond just competitive salaries, and increasingly focus on a wider range of benefits, wellness, upskilling, and the overall employee experience. This trend is likely to reshape the people spend and total rewards philosophy in India going forward”.

“COVID-19 accelerated the digitalization process across industries including automation and artificial intelligence. These developments, along with the high-tech sector’s early adoption of the remote working model, have positively impacted the sector’s salary projections.

“The manufacturing and retail sectors saw rising demand driven by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and a positive outlook of order inflows and consumer sentiment,” he said.

On the other hand, the energy sector received among the lowest actual salary increase in 2021 at 7.7 percent, the report said.

The projected salary of the energy sector in 2022 is also the lowest at 7.9 percent, according to the report.