Indian IT firms among 10 worst paymasters

Indian Information Technology companies are among the world’s 10 lowest-paying employers in the segment, with their mid-to-senior level staff getting an average salary of $38,767 (about Rs 21.5 lakh) per annum — less than one-fourth of the IT pay package at globally top-paying Swiss firms.

Salaries in the IT sector of Switzerland are the highest in the world, at an average of $168,211 (about Rs 93 lakh) per annum, says a study titled 'World wide IT Salary 2012'.

The study, conducted by global recruitment service provider MyHiringClub.com, has ranked India at eighth spot among 10 worst IT paymasters globally. Switzerland stands at the top spot among the top-paying nations in the sector. The study, conducted in August this year, took into account the average salaries for people with four and more years of experience.

The report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in about 6,000 companies across 40 different countries and found employers in western Europe are the best paymasters.

WHERE THE MONEY LIES The lowest average annual salary of mid-to-senior executives, according to a study conducted by MyHiringClub.com
	Figures in $
Belgium	144,980
Denmark	136,542
US	128,632
UK	127,890
India	38,767
China	38,624
Malaysia	36,790
Thailand	34,107
The Philippines	33,965
Indonesia	33,768
Vietnam	29,831
Bulgaria	23,745

It also found compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. At the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower-paying countries.

"Although pay in Asia and Eastern Europe tends to be much lower, it would be difficult for firms to outsource the IT manager role to these regions. Instead, we may see a migration of IT skills from lower paying nations to places in Western Europe and North America," MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said.

Interestingly, IT managers in India fare better than their counterparts in neighbouring China, where the average annual compensation package were lower at $38,624. In addition, IT employees in India, scored better than their peers in Bulgaria, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at $23,745, $29,831, $33,768, $33,965, $34,107 and $36,790 respectively.

Among the best IT salaries paying countries Belgium bagged the second position with an average salary of $144,980, followed by Denmark ($136,542), the US ($128,632) and the UK ($127,890).