Indian fresher salaries rank low in Asia-Pacific: Study

By NewsGram Staff Writer

New Delhi: A study ranked the salaries of Indian fresher graduates, at an average monthly pay of about Rs 26,500, ninth out of the top 11 economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fresher's monthly income in India is less than one-fifth of the equivalent salaries in South Korea and Singapore. Only Philippines and Indonesia trail behind India in this regard.

A global professional services company, Towers Watson, has found that further up the career ladder, Indian wages for experienced professionals at the middle management level are slightly more competitive.

The finding said that an engineering manager in India earns an annual salary of Rs 37,52,630 which is almost half of his counterpart in China who earns Rs 74,39,542, and is just one-third of his counterpart in Singapore where the annual guaranteed pay is Rs 1,00,31,274

While an office service manager in India annually earns $39,266, it is nearly double in China at Rs 51,51,406, while the remuneration in Singapore is Rs 79.36.337.

Entrants in IT programming and quality control roles earn Rs 3,54,685 in India while a person having the same portfolio in China earns Rs 5,00,939. The same payment in Singapore is five-fold at Rs 17,09,061 while in US, it is Rs 26,94,816.

"Despite a common labour market in the region, it is striking to see how divergent guaranteed cash levels remain amongst top economies," Tower Watson's data services practice leader from Asia-Pacific region, Sambhav Rakyan said in a statement.

With Indian salaries featuring nearly at the bottom of the pyramid, Rakyan remarks that it presents an opportunity for India.

"The disparity in salaries also illustrates how a large knowledge pool and a significant cost arbitrage make India a front runner in providing outsourced services. After achieving great success in IT/BPO, India can now become a natural choice for other sectors like manufacturing," he said.

(With inputs from IANS)