Highest salary hikes: Indian companies are expecting a 9.8% increase in employee salaries in 2024, which is close to the 10% raise observed in 2023. This places India at the top in terms of salary hikes in the Asia Pacific region, as per the Salary Budget Planning Report by WTW. According to ET, the report highlights that tighter labor markets and rising inflation are among the key factors influencing this salary increment trend.
Compared to the previous year, more than half of the companies have increased their salary budgets in 2023.Additionally, a quarter of these companies have exceeded their budget projections made in December 2022, the survey shows.
The sectors expected to witness the highest salary hikes in 2024 are technology, media and gaming, financial services, and retail, with a projected increment of 10%.
Furthermore, companies in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, retail, and captives have projected slightly higher increases for 2024 compared to the actual salary increments observed in 2023. The expected salary hikes are; 10% for BFSI, 10% for retail and 9.9% for captives. This is due to the sustained demand for skilled talent in these sectors.
Rajul Mathur, the consulting leader for work and rewards at WTW India, emphasized that companies across various industries are closely monitoring their cost structures.

The Salary Budget Planning Report, which received responses from around 32,512 companies across 150 countries, was conducted between April and May 2023.
Salary Hikes Highest in India within APAC
In the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, India maintains the highest salary increases. Projections for 2024 indicate a salary increase of 8% in Vietnam, 6% in China, 5.7% in the Philippines, and 5% in Thailand.
In terms of recruitment, approximately 28% of surveyed companies plan to hire in the coming year, with around 60% of companies having expanded their workforce in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The most sought-after or ‘hot jobs’ for the next 12 months include Information Technology (61%), Engineering (59.8%), Sales (42.9%), Technical Skills Trade (38.6%), Finance (11.8%), Marketing (10.6%), and Human Resources (3.1%).