One of the smallest mobile service providers in India by number of subscribers, the company is giving an up to 38% increment, including bonuses, in the 2014-15 financial year, ahead of an expansion drive it plans to launch and to retain staff as the industry is set to see a battle for talent with an expected turnaround in the economy. Employees will get an average 11% of the pay hike as a fixed component in their monthly salaries, while the rest will come in the form of bonus towards early 2015.
Besides, there will be performance linked incentive that could be between three months’ and full year’s basic salary.
Aon Hewitt’s salary increase survey for 2013-14 estimated an average salary hike of 10.1% in telecom, compared with 9.2% the previous year. Last fiscal year’s increments have been lower than the 16-17% the sector had seen a few years ago, but still considered high by many in a sector that is still struggling with huge debt which weighs on growth.
The expectations of a turnaround in the economy with the industry following suit, and the impending launch of services by Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom unit of deep-pocketed Reliance Industries, are leading telecom firms to give healthy pay hikes this time. No. 2 carrier Vodafone India has given an average raise of around 8.5%, with average performers getting 2-4% and the top ones 12-14%. Market leader Bharti Airtel is set to give out 9-11% hikes this year, people with knowledge of the company’s plans said.
Videocon Telecom chief executive Arvind Bali said giving high pay increases and hiring from professional institutes will go a long way towards meeting its expansion plans. It has operations across four circles and is hiring professionals for rolling of 2G services in three more – UPEast, UP-West and Biharand Jharkhand – apart from a future roll out of 4G services, for which it has signed a deal with Chinese equipment maker Huawei.
