2022 pay hikes, promotions better than pre-Covid years

Salary hikes and promotions in 2022 have returned to or exceeded the levels in pre-pandemic years for employees in several sectors.

Talent retention amid high attrition, recovery in businesses and easing concerns about more disruptions from Covid-19 are some of the factors making companies handsomely reward their employees, according to HR experts.

A third of the employees covered by a recent CIEL HR Services survey received hikes between 10% and 15% this year, significantly higher than the 15% employees who received similar increments pre-pandemic, according to the findings exclusively shared with ET. The survey captured responses from 614 companies employing nearly 2.2 million people in the IT, outsourcing, finance and technology sectors.


"Reflecting the health of our business, the talent realities, and potential of our professionals, both the proportion of promoted colleagues, as well as the average increment numbers this year have been better than the pre-pandemic high," said SV Nathan, partner and chief talent officer at professional services firm Deloitte India, which wrapped up its appraisal process in June.

At rival KPMG India, the April appraisals were "one of the most aggressive ones in many years", said partner and head-people, performance and culture, Sunit Sinha.

The CIEL HR Services survey, which concluded in June, was for the appraisal cycle which ended in April. It primarily covered domains and roles like engineering, operations, sales and marketing.

Rewarding Top Performers | page 10
The staffing firm's chief executive, Aditya Mishra, said at least for 30% employees, the salary hikes in 2022 were better than the pre-pandemic levels.

For industries like manufacturing, engineering, construction, mining, power and energy - which were not part of the survey - the salary hikes were 7-10%, CIEL HR Services said.

Wipro will be rolling out several promotions for its employees starting this quarter, as part of the Bengaluru-based IT firm's decision to reward top performers up to the mid-management level on a quarterly basis. The increments and promotions are likely to be handed out next month. "The percentage of hike is yet to be determined but as always, the company will reward top performers with competitive increments," a spokesperson said.

At Titan Co, the Tata Group-owned manufacturer of jewellery, watches and eyewear, hikes and promotions for employees are better than the pre-pandemic times, chief HR officer Swadesh Behera said. "Great consumer sentiment, favourable market conditions and very positive recovery of all our businesses have helped us to really take care of our people in this period of resurgence," said Behera.

Diversified technology company Panasonic India has offered better salary hikes this year than the previous two, which HR head Adarsh Mishra attributed to an "economic recovery aiding in a positive business outlook", which he said led organisations to invest in building "a resilient workforce".