Optimism abounds for Indian corporate salaries, projected to climb an average 9.1 percent by 2026 per EY India’s ‘Future of Pay’ report. GCCs are the stars, anticipating 10.4 percent hikes amid booming international needs for tech and digital prowess.
Financial services anticipate 10 percent growth, e-commerce 9.9 percent, and life sciences/pharma 9.7 percent. These figures reflect strategic wage adjustments to attract and retain expertise in high-growth domains.
Job stability improves as attrition eases to 16.4 percent in 2025 from 17.5 percent in 2024. Over 80 percent of leavers depart voluntarily for greener pastures, not redundancies—a healthy sign of employee confidence.
Challenges remain in financial services (24 percent attrition), professional services, and IT/high-tech. GCCs fare better at 14.1 percent, emerging as preferred employers in a stabilizing market.
EY Leader Abhishek Sen observes, ‘Beyond increment magnitudes, pay strategies now focus on skill rewards and equilibrium between rivalry and longevity.’ This mindset is reshaping compensation landscapes.
Skills-based pay is surging, with about 50 percent of companies moving away from position-based systems. AI, GenAI, ML, cybersecurity, and cloud experts may see 30-40 percent uplifts, given their critical role in driving enterprise value.
Variable pay has expanded to 16.1 percent of total remuneration in 2025, from 14.8 percent last year. By linking payouts to results, companies are cultivating a performance-oriented ecosystem, primed for India’s next growth phase.