More IT jobs, but lesser pay now (India) [View All]

[OhioChick]

February 21, 2008 14:35 IST

Despite a 15 per cent increase in the number of employees hired, the Indian IT majors have managed to reduce the average growth rate of their wage cost to half during the third quarter ending December 2007 as compared to the previous year.

According to a study by industry body Assocham, the third quarter results of top IT players, including Infosys , Satyam , TCS and Wipro (including subsidiaries), the average hike in wage cost of these companies fell to about 22 per cent during Oct-Dec 2007, as against a whopping quarter-on-quarter rise of 45 per cent during third quarter of the financial year 2006-07.

These players recruited about 25,000 employees during Q3 of FY08, as against 21,640 employees in Oct-Dec 2007, it said.

"Thinning margins due to appreciating rupee is putting pressure on the software companies to put a check on its employees' pay packages," said Assocham president Venugopal N Dhoot.

The software giant, Infosys along with its subsidiaries, almost doubled its intake of personnel to 11,683 over the quarter this year.

The staff strength of the company and subsidiaries was 88,601 as on December 31, 2007. Nonetheless, the wage bill increased by only 21 per cent in Q3 FY08 vis-�-vis a jump of 43 per cent in Q3 of FY07.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/21it.htm