FMCG highest paying industry in India: Survey

The FMCG industry has emerged as the highest paying industry in India with an average annual cost to company (CTC) of Rs 11.3 lakh across all levels and functions, says a survey.

A robust demand for qualified personnel in sales, marketing and supply chain management roles coupled with close to 30 per cent of jobs being posted in over 10 lakh category is being seen as the primary driver for FMCG industry to emerge as the winner.

FMCG is followed by power and the IT sector, where employees across all levels and functions earn average annual salaries at Rs 9.8 lakh and Rs 9.3 lakh, respectively, the 2017 Salary Trends Study released by Randstad said.

Pharma and healthcare, offering an average annual CTC of Rs 8.8 lakh, and telecom (at Rs 8.7 lakh) take the fourth and fifth position in the list as India's most lucrative industries, the study noted.

"Today employers are cognizant of the fact that the right salary structure is one of the key strategies to attract, engage and retain top talent in the organisation and hence it is important to closely analyse the prevalent salary trends and make course corrections wherever necessary," Randstad India MD & CEO Moorthy K Uppaluri said.

According to the location-specific salary trends, IT capital Bengaluru tops the chart as the highest paying city in the country, with an average annual CTC paid for talent across all levels and functions at Rs 14.6 lakh.

Mumbai is at the second position in the list with an average annual CTC figure of Rs 14.2 lakh, followed by Hyderabad (Rs 13.6 lakh) and NCR (Rs 13.5 lakh).

Chennai (Rs 13.4 lakh) Pune (Rs 13.2 lakh) and Kolkata (Rs 11.4 lakh) are the next three names in the list of top Indian cities paying highest average salaries for professionals.

The study also listed "Hot Jobs" - roles that are experiencing strong demand right now in the job market, across industries and pay relatively higher remunerations for talent in the 6-10 years experience bracket, when compared to other professionals in the same salary range.

Core Java professionals lead the pack with an average annual CTC at Rs 18.06 lakh, followed by Digital Marketing professionals with Rs 17.09 lakh and Testing Automation Engineers with Rs 14.67 lakh.

The Randstad Salary Trends Study 2017 analysed around 1 lakh jobs across 20 industry verticals and 15 core functions.