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In these supposedly enlightened days, a happy workforce is considered to be more productive. Yet, despite a lot of things going for it, Indians don’t seem a particularly happy lot.
Take some recent reports on salary hikes. According to preliminary results from the Hewitt Associates annual Asia Pacific Salary Increase survey, India heads the list. The projected salary increase for 2006 is 14 per cent. This is on the heels of a 13.4 per cent increase in 2005. Second comes China with a much lower 8.1 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum is Japan with 2.8 per cent and Singapore with 4 per cent.
Another study shows that the salary bill of the top companies in India has risen by 25-40 per cent. A part of this can be attributed to the increase in numbers. But HR professionals agree that salaries have been rising very fast too.
It is a rather different picture in China, where the salary increases have been more sober. According to a survey by the Development Research Centre of the State Council (DRCSC), 72.7 per cent of Chinese employees are happy with their salaries.
What’s it like in India? Take the IT sector, which has seen the sharpest increase in salaries over the past few years. According to the latest Dataquest-IDC India Salary survey, there does not seem to be a direct correlation between salary and satisfaction. HP is the best paymaster, but it has quite a lot of dissatisfied employees on the salary parameter. And while MindTree and Oracle don’t loosen their purse strings so much, folks working there are much happier with their paycheques.
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A broader study was conducted by global human capital consulting firm Watson Wyatt. The first WorkIndia survey ? evocatively titled “Worker bees buzz happily, but want more honey” ? says that compensation is “a major grouse among the otherwise contented Indian workforce”. Only 39 per cent of the sample was satisfied with the pay.
“Today, attrition levels are rising, there is a huge demand for talent, and a higher salary seems no great inducement,” says the HR head of a multinational subsidiary. “Our focus has to move to the work environment. We must make this a fun place to work for.”
The one consolation is that dissatisfaction over salary is a worldwide phenomenon. A survey of US workers by The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Centre shows that job satisfaction has been steadily on the decline. Says the report: “Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 per cent in 1995.” On the wage parameter, only 33.5 per cent of the workers expressed satisfaction.
Analysts point out that India ? with 39 per cent ? is much better off. But says the HR head quoted earlier, “Companies had better wake up or they will find that a mobile workforce means much more than a workforce equipped with mobiles.”
