This year’s Monster Salary Index India IT Sector Report has revealed that there is a gap of around 29 per cent between the average pay drawn by a male IT worker and a female IT worker in India.
As per the Monster Salary Index, the male IT worker receives gross salary of ₹ 359.25 per hour while female receives ₹ 254.04 per hour. This disparity possibly emerges from the fact that men get promoted to supervisory position more often than women.
The other influencing factors are company size and ownership. It is observed that wholly owned foreign companies pay higher salaries. In India about 65% of workforce in IT sector works in large to mid-sized companies with more than 5,000 employees.
“It is surprising to see that the most modern sector of India is not only predisposed to a certain gender but is also paying lesser to women employees than their male counterparts with a grave pay gap of 29 per cent,” Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com said.
Women have started being active in the IT sector only recently and are also likely to find it harder to accumulate tenure due to family obligations. Re-entry to the job market is difficult for women and they are often paid less when they decide to enter the labour market again. With more number of career breaks in their job history, the negotiating capacity of women in the labour market declines. Hence, men with similar experience earn higher salary as compared to women.
Further adding to this Mr. Modi said, “In India, marital status can be cited as a reason for lack of opportunities and growth avenues for a gender. Also with the socio-cultural mindset, women often prefer or are compelled to take up part-time jobs because it is expected that they fulfill primary responsibility of taking care of household activities and children. I am hopeful that we, along with the industry can play an instrumental role in changing the existing dynamics to make it a far more egalitarian ecosystem.”
The report also states that the tenure of an employee with an organisation is a compelling factor that sways the salary of an employee. More experienced workers are paid better than less experienced ones. While on an average an employee with less than 3 years of experience gets ₹ 142.97 per hour and an employee with more than 10 years of experience gets ₹ 625.55 per hour.
Commenting on the salary trends, Pauline Osse, Director WageIndicator Foundation said, “The MSI-IT report is a perfect illustration of how a methodical research and distribution approach on salaries is aiding many people who seek a good benchmark to take a sagacious decision. I hope it will encourage women employees and their employers to improve employment scenario for women in IT sector.”
Another interesting insight of this report is that male workers with permanent contracts get paid better than those employed for a limited time. Women employed for a limited time get paid better than those with permanent contracts as a measure taken by corporates to sustain talent.
For employers, MSI has an online Salary Survey that aims to provide employers with practical information and helps them make informed decisions by analyzing the salary market and optimizing employee remuneration.
