Netas, managers got the biggest pay hikes since 1993

Real average daily wages for legislators, senior officials and managers nearly doubled between 1993–94 and 2011–12, the fastest rate of growth across occupational categories, according to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) India Wage Report.

Analysing data from the National Sample Survey Organisation, the report concluded that legislators, senior officials and managers had seen their real wages go up by 98% on average while "professionals" saw a 90% jump in their salaries.

At the other end of the spectrum, plant and machine operators have secured a much lower 44% hike in average real wages over this nearly two decade-long period. Across occupational categories, the average rise in real daily wages was 93%.

The data also shows an interesting difference in the pattern of these increases. In the case of the occupational categories that have seen the highest percentage increases in real wages, the pace of increase slowed down after 2004-05. For the ones that have seen the lowest increases, on the other hand, the pace of wage increase picked up.

One result of this is that "the ratio between the best paid occupation and the lowest ranked was 7.2 in 1993–94, increased to 10.7 in 2004–05 and declined to 7.6 in 2011–12," as the report notes. Daily wages for low-skilled occupations grew at 3.7% between 2004–05 and 2011–12, which partially accounted for the decline in wage differentials, the report stated.

The report highlights that salaries in urban India rose steadily during the period of high economic growth (1993–94 to 2004–05) and this was especially so for those working in the professional and administrative categories. The Pay Commissions contributed not just to higher government and public sector wages but also had an impact on wages in the private sector, particularly at the upper levels, the report concluded.

The lowest-skilled occupation receives a salary that is only 60% of the average earnings, while medium-skilled jobs receive wages varying from 0.7 to 1.8 times the average earnings. High-skilled occupations receive wages which are 1.9 to 4.3 times higher than average earnings.

However, the increase in average daily wages has not been the same for men and women. It is in the highest ranks of labour (legislators, senior officials and managers) that the gap is the smallest. In 2011–12, women in this category earned 92% of what the men earned. Among professional workers, women earned only 75% of men’s wages in 2011–12.

In low-skilled jobs, women receive only 69% of men’s average daily wages. This occupational segregation seems to have intensified during the period 1983 to 2011–12. Further, there is a higher propensity for scheduled castes to be stuck in occupations with lower wages, the report said.

Despite the reduction of the gender wage gap in most occupational categories over time, the difference between men’s and women’s average daily wage is still quite large, the report noted. Also, women workers have a lower probability of getting social security benefits than their male counterparts as most of them are concentrated in low-killed occupations.