Here is good news for the working class. As India recovers from the effects of the pandemic, increments are likely to go up from 4.4 percent in the previous year to 7.3 percent in 2021, according to a report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India.
Were you also one of the victims of ‘no appraisal’ last year? Are you among those employees who didn’t get any salary hike last year? And, now awaiting something positive in terms of salary this year? Here is something important you must be aware of. According to a consumer survey, companies in India are expected to dole out an average increment of 7.3 percent to employees this year amid faster-than-expected economic recovery and revival in business and consumer confidence.
Are companies planning to give double-digit increment this year? The survey further states that 20 per cent of companies are also planning to give a double-digit increment this year. Only 12 percent of companies were expected to give double-digit increment in pandemic-ridden 2020. The survey further found out that only 60 per cent of the companies gave an increment last year to their employees, of which a third of them did so through off-cycle increments.
As many as 92 percent of companies that participated in the survey plan to give an increment in 2021 compared to only 60 percent last year. The survey, launched in December 2020 as a B2B India-specific survey, covered around 400 organizations spread across seven sectors and 25 sub-sectors, as per a PTI report.
Which sector is expected to give maximum/minimum increment? The report by Deloitte India has predicted that the maximum increment can be given in the life sciences and IT sectors. The hospitality, real estate, infrastructure, and renewable energy companies are expected to give the least increment this year.
Here is what an expert has to say: “Covid-19 has made year-on-year analysis tricky as 2020 has been an anomaly, making 2019 a better year for comparison. The average India 2021 increment of 7.3% is still considerably lower than 8.6 % in 2019. While business activity is rebounding quickly, organizations are managing compensation budgets responsibly considering their affordability and sustainability of fixed cost increases,” Times of India quoted Anandorup Ghose, partner at Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu, as saying.
“HR and leadership teams in India Inc. have shown tremendous maturity in decision-making to responsibly deal with the impact of Covid-19. Post-March 2020, most companies decided either not to offer increments or defer them until they get more clarity. About 25% companies even extended a pay cut to senior management. Organizations largely preferred saving jobs of most to offering higher increments and bonuses to a few. Given that the risks related to the pandemic are not over yet, it is no surprise that they are treading with caution,” Ghose added.
