These 5 sectors are the only ones projected to see double digit salary hikes this year

• India’s working professionals can expect an average salary hike of nearly 9.7% in 2019.
  
• Companies in India are projecting higher salary hikes in sectors including Consumer Internet Companies, Professional Services, Life Sciences, Automotive and Consumer Products sector.
  
• The voluntary attrition rate has also declined in Indian corporates — from 18.5% in 2013 to 15.8% in 2018.

Salary hikes in India may not be as attractive now as before, with fewer sectors giving out double digit hikes.

However, there are at least five sectors that still project double digit increments in salaries in 2019, according to the latest survey by Human Resource firm Aon Hewitt.

These include consumer Internet companies, professional services, life sciences, automotive and consumer products sector.

While the top skills fetching higher salary increment are big data analytics, digital cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cyber security and machine learning.

Overall, India’s working professionals can expect an average salary hike of nearly 9.7% in 2019, thanks to the narrowing increment budgets. While the top layer is expected to get a maximum increment of 15.6% based on performance and productivity.

The report stressed that salary hikes have been descending from high double digits to significantly lower across many sectors and finally dropping down to single digit for most sectors.

Owing to high domestic demand and low inflation, the increments projected in 2019 will be stable but still favourable at 9.7%, the report highlighted. Over the years, the voluntary attrition rate has also declined in Indian corporates — from 18.5% in 2013 to 15.8% in 2018.

"The increment projections in other sectors are also a reflection of the expected growth prospects during the year. With government focus on infrastructure investment, sectors such as cement, metal, engineering services saw a revival in demand and an improvement in increment projections for 2019," said Aon.

The report surveyed over 1,000 companies across more than 20 industries, has found that the salary increase ticked off double digit growth between 2010-2016, stabilizing at 9.3% in 2017.

With the appraisal season around the corner, the companies are likely to announce salary hikes starting April.

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