GOOD NEWS! Robust hiring, 12% pay hike on anvil

Indicating a robust uptrend in the job market, a survey said on Wednesday that 84 per cent of companies in India will ramp up their hiring activities this year and employees can look forward to an average pay hike of more than 12 per cent across most of the sectors.

According to the study conducted by staffing consultancy Mercer, organisations are planning to hire aggressively this year, when competition could grow further for right talent.

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"Hiring continues unabated in Asia with India and China leading the pack.

"Interestingly, developed or mature economies in Asia are looking at maintaining headcount, and growth in headcount is only expected from the developing economies in Asia," Mercer director Information Product Solutions Muninder Anand said.

Sector-wise, manufacturing, insurance and chemical segments have reported strongest hiring intentions, while technical and engineering functions are expected to have the greatest headcount increase, found the survey that covered 682 firms across various industry sectors.

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Most sought after jobs could be in sales, engineering and research and development functions at the junior-management level.

Anand further said that the key challenge for companies would be hiring from a limited set of qualified or skilled talent pool.

Meanwhile, overall actual voluntary turnover or attrition rose to 16.7 per cent in 2010, with highest attrition reported in ITeS, IT and pharma sectors.

Lowest attrition level was reported by the chemical sector at 9.9 per cent.

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Among different industries, the projected salary rise is highest for the automobile industry at 14.3 per cent, followed by pharmaceutical and medical equipments at 12.8 per cent, chemical at 12.2 per cent, consumer at 12 per cent, IT & Telecom at 12 per cent, ITeS at 11.3 per cent.

Employees in insurance sector are expected to receive a relatively lower salary increase at 11 per cent compared to other industries.

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Salary for executives in the asset management industry will be higher in 2012 than payouts for executives in consumer, pharmaceutical, chemical, automobile sectors, Mercer said.

Meanwhile, according to HR services firm Ma Foi Randstad the average salary hike this year is projected to be 11.2 per cent, lower than over 12 per cent increase last year.