Willis Towers Watson releases a survey on salary projection for the year 2018. The study reveals that India’s 2018 projected salary increase is highest in Asia Pacific. It also unveils that salaries in India are expected to rise 10 percent in 2018.

Willis Towers Watson which is a global advisory, broking, and solutions company, surveyed a range of job grades across various industry sectors and regions to prepare the annual salary forecast report for the year ahead.

Sambhav Rakyan, Data Services Practice Leader-Asia Pacific at Willis Towers Watson shares that India continues to show high salary increments as compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific region.  Although the survey observed a declining pattern in the year-on-year salary increases, Indian employees could clearly comprehend a single digit salary hike in 2018 for the first time since 2011.  He further added, that given this trend and the rapid progression of jobs, skill and the future of work, especially for tech-savvy talent, companies need to rethink their talent attraction and retention strategies. They need to realize that merely increasing compensation is not a sustainable solution.

Key insights from the report unveil: 

• Salary trends across regions:

The study indicates that over the years, India is witnessing a decrease in year on year increments in the salary. However, the projected salary for 2018 in India is still the highest in the Asia Pacific region. The increase in salaries in other regions are:

Indonesia: 8.5%

China: 7%

Philippines: 6%

Hong Kong: 4%

 Singapore: 4%

• Salary trends across levels:

The survey highlights that executive salaries have shown no growth and in some cases has shown a decline. However, at the mid-management level, the salary increase range is broad – from a 2-3 percent for average performers to 15 percent for top performers. The junior management salary increase, average around 10 percent but may have a wider range.

• Salary trends across industries:

Among the industries surveyed, the most striking projected salary increase is observed in the Energy, FMCG, and Retail. At 10.5%, these sectors are expected to do better than the overall projected salary of 10%. The notable change in projected salaries is anticipated in the Pharmaceutical industry (from 11% in 2017 to 10.3% projected for 2018). Notably, at 9.1% the Financial services is the only sector where the expected salary is less than the overall projection.