Hefty salary hikes turn a thing of the past

Bangalore, July 7 Ask and it shall be yours, was the motto in the recruitment industry last year. The days of mind-boggling salary hikes for lateral moves seems to be over, say recruiters across the country.

Increment in salaries of people who switched jobs in 2006-07 rose 80-100 per cent in IT/ITES, retail and real estate sectors. This figure has now taken a beating with a few companies capping hikes at 15-20 per cent.

“Some IT companies have even gone down to as low as 12-18 per cent for mid-to-senior management positions,” says Ms Nirupama, V.G, Managing Director, Ad Astra Consultants, a Bangalore-based recruitment firm.

A leading retail firm which lured potential employees with 100-120 per cent hikes to their current salaries is now offering not more than 30-40 per cent even for top level positions, says a Bangalore-based recruiter.

Hiring slowdown

Mr Gautam Sinha, CEO, TVA Infotech, rationalises the sudden downturn and attributes it to companies going slow in hiring. “Earlier IT companies operated on a tight schedule and were ready to pay any price for talent. Now they can afford to wait for the right candidate rather than give in to the whims and fancies of a demanding candidate. This is also because there is a drastic cut in the hiring numbers in the industry.”

There is a general change in expectations of both the companies and the candidates, agrees Mr K Lakshmikanth, Managing Director, Headhunters India. In his opinion, premium on salary for laterals has fallen from 25-30 per cent last year to about 10 per cent this year.

Wary of switches

Employees too are wary of job switches this year, and therefore hiring predictability has increased. “While about 30-40 per cent of the candidates who took up offers last year did not join, this year the number of no-shows has come down to 10 per cent,” says Ms Nirupama.

Salary hikes offered are also directly linked to the criticality of the talent and the size of the talent pool in the area. Mr E Balaji, Chief Operating Officer, Ma Foi says even salaries that were upwards of 30 per cent last year have fallen to 15 per cent this year.

CXO expectations too have been tempered and global search firms like EMA Partners now advise executives to look for long-term gains rather than short-term compensation benefits. “Salary is not the absolute decision maker today, top leadership is now looking at autonomy and contribution to business,” according to Mr K. Sudarshan, Managing Partner at EMA.