Not surprisingly, the Information Technology sector in India has turned out to be the most lucrative from the perspective of salary, paying its employees an average of 341.8 rupees per hour.
At 9 hours per day and 22 days in a month, that works out to a median salary of Rs 67,518 per month, according to a survey by Monster India.
The report concludes that 60% of the Indian workforce is relatively satisfied with their overall life. One of the astounding derivations is that only 51.9% of employees are satisfied with their pay.
| Sector | Percentage of sample | Median gross hourly salary |
| Construction- Construction and Technical Consultancy | 15.95% | 259.8 |
| Education- Education and Research | 6.25% | 186.5 |
| BFSI- Banking, Financial Services, Insurance | 22.27% | 291.0 |
| Healthcare- Healthcare, Caring Services, Social Work | 5.91% | 215.6 |
| IT, ITES, Telecom- Information And Communication Technology (IT) | 18.17% | 341.8 |
| Legal and Market Consultancy- Legal and Market Consultancy, Business Activities | 4.54% | 215.6 |
| Manufacturing | 22.01% | 230.9 |
| Transport, Logistics- Transport, Logistics, Communication | 4.90% | 230.9 |
| Total | 100.00% | 252.3 |
Source: WageIndicator Foundation
The analysis covers data from first quarter of 2012 up to December 2014 for wages and till quarter 1 2014 for working conditions and satisfaction. The salary analysis is based on data collected from Paycheck India’s Salary Calculator and Monster Salary Index. The sample used for the analysis consists of 35,929 observations.
| Satisfaction with | Satisfaction level |
| Job | 64.8% |
| Pay | 51.9% |
| Commuting time | 65.9% |
| Work-life balance | 63.7% |
| Job Security | 62.7% |
| Work environment | 64.9% |
| Working hours | 67.7% |
| Relationship to colleagues | 75.7% |
| Relationship to superiors | 72.2% |
| Life as-a-whole | 59.4% |
Source: WageIndicator Foundation
The IT sector was followed by the financial services sector, which includes banking and mutual funds and so on. The median pay was Rs 291 here, or about 57,600 per month.
The lowest pay was in the education sector, at 186 rupees per hour or Rs 32,700 at 8 hours per day and 22 days in a month. The survey also found that women often earned less than their men.
On an average, men earn ₹259.8 per hour whereas female colleagues earned just ₹190.5, i.e. about 27% less than men.
For example, in IT sector, women earn around 34% less than men in the sector. Interestingly, gender pay gap in the finance sector is about 19%, which is lower than the average in the Indian economy.
In fact, the predominance of women in the education sector has been identified as one of the reasons why the median salary in the sector is so low. “Women working here are paid 18% lesser than men in the same sector. A similar study in US, UK, Spain and Germany reveals that female employees in the education & research earn 33% lesser than their male colleagues,” Monster said.
“Across global and US region the same survey indicates that females in the workplace are not being compensated in the same way as their male counterparts,” Monster India said. “While we have seen a great increase in the number of women in supervisory positions, this does not reflect in the salary that those women are receiving.”
In US, UK, Spain and Germany as well female employees in the finance & insurance sector earn 35% lesser than their counterparts, a survey by Monster found.
While some may say money doesn’t buy happiness, but the highest grossing employees also seemed to be the happiest as well, in the survey.
While the overall satisfaction level with life as a whole was just 59.4% for the full sample, among IT employees, 61% were happy with their lives. 60% of the Indian employees in the education sector reported being satisfied with their lives regardless of the low compensation and absence of bonuses. Additionally, 58.8% of workers in the financial sector are satisfied with their overall life.
In manufacturing, the median salary is ₹230.9 per hour, which is slightly lower than the average in the whole economy. Nonetheless, disparities in salary existed in the sector basis the educational qualification/skills of an individual, the report said.