Good morning. Great news from India’s space agency, which yesterday announced it had managed a successful space docking (joining two fast moving satellites in space). India is the fourth country to manage this feat, after the US, Russia and China.
India’s software services sector could also do with some good news. Tech chief executives are keeping their fingers crossed that a Trump presidency will unleash animal spirits in American corporations, triggering higher spending on IT services. We’ll take a look. But first, what are your job and salary prospects?
Salary statement
Where are the best jobs and what’s your pay packet going to look like this year? According to the annual salary trends report published by Randstad, the best paying junior and mid-level jobs are found in Bengaluru, and senior management roles are the juiciest in Mumbai. (Excuse me for a minute while I cry in Delhi-NCR).
Salaries in Bengaluru are 23 per cent and 9 per cent higher than the national average for junior and mid-levels respectively. For senior positions, Mumbai pay packets are 12 per cent higher than the national average. Surprisingly (at least to me), Bengaluru jobs are not just in the IT sector; the city leads in financial services, manufacturing, automotive, retail and consumer goods too. Mumbai (predictably) excels in finance and banking sector jobs.
Internet and ecommerce — undoubtedly the growth industries currently — are the best paymasters, but salaries in the advertising, market research and public relations industries have taken a big leap too (26 per cent).
But to me, the real story is the collapse of Delhi-NCR. The report places it at rank seven (in tier 1 cities) for mid-level and senior executive pay. In both of these categories, salaries here are lower than the national average. Delhi-NCR is fifth at the junior level and the pay is a hair over the average, and it is consistently ranked seven (out of eight) in all the sectors the report analysed.
Two decades ago, when the shiny glass and chrome buildings emerged in Delhi-NCR’s Gurgaon, it quickly became the hub of corporate India with large Indian conglomerates and big multinationals setting up headquarters. It was great for a while, but terrible air pollution and civic services increasingly lagging behind have really done a number on the quality of life in the national capital. The other issue is that the region is spread over three states, with different rules and standards, and there is no central authority responsible for its growth and upkeep.
Now that you know where (not) to work, here’s how much you can expect your pay to rise this year. A report published this week by Mercer estimates that salary increments in 2025 will be an average 9.4 per cent, a steady growth from 8 per cent in 2020. The automotive sector is expected to be the most generous, with 10 per cent salary increments (up from 8.8 per cent last year), followed by manufacturing and engineering at 9.7 per cent. Of the 1,550 companies that participated in this survey, 37 per cent plan to increase headcount.
Overall, these are encouraging numbers. The jobs landscape for 2025 is looking good in India. But Delhi-ites, should we start a support group?
Write to me at indiabrief@ft.com or hit reply.
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Trump IT
On Monday, when Donald Trump takes his oath of office, one section of Indian industry will be watching with hopeful anticipation. The IT services sector, which has had a difficult few years post-pandemic, is looking forward to a Trump bump. Here’s why.
One, Trump has promised to reduce corporate taxes. Industry experts expect that the money saved on tax will be directed towards technology expansion. Second, the uncertainty over the elections are over and the US economy is expected to grow. Half of India’s IT services revenues come from North America and when the US grows, they grow too. In fact, it’s already showing signs of a revival (see graph above). HSBC analysts estimate industry growth will be 6 per cent in the next financial year, up from about 3-4 per cent over the past two years.
Our IT services companies employ 5mn people and earn revenues of $125bn, and it needs all the good news it can get. But a Trump presidency is not without its challenges for the industry. The issue of H1B visas has been raging even before Trump takes office. The president’s Maga base has come out all guns blazing against IT jobs going predominantly to Indians. Plus, the nuances of the US economy in 2025 are hazy. If the new administration imposes the tariffs it has been threatening, inflationary pressures will rise.
This is a story which should not be viewed through a binary lens. My sense is that all of these scenarios will come to bear. There will be more money funding technology services but there will also be the overhang of Trump’s America First policies. The next few quarters will probably be positive for the industry, but it would be foolish to extrapolate that to the entirety of Trump’s term.
Go figure
India’s trade deficit narrowed to a three-month low last month. Key imports were precious metals, petroleum and electronics. The government revised November’s gold import figures by $5bn, attributing it to a mistake of double counting. Here’s the data for December.
Read, hear, watch
I plan to start watching Black Warrant on Netflix this weekend. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, this is an inside look at Delhi’s notorious Tihar jail. The series is based on the book of the same name, written by Sunil Gupta, a former superintendent at the prison, and journalist Sunetra Choudhury. I read the book when it was published in 2019. It’s a gripping account with familiar names from newspaper headlines. Early reviews of the show are promising.
My friend (and former boss) Sanjay Kalra sent me a playlist of Rashid Khan’s songs. I don’t know much about Hindustani classical, but these songs were accessible even for my musically-challenged brain. I plan to properly get into it this weekend. (Write to me if you’re interested. I’ll share the playlist).
The Indian national trust for art and cultural heritage (Intach) organises some lovely walks in Delhi. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the history and culture of this beautiful city. (So what if we are underpaid, we get to gaze at Humayun’s tomb). After two failed attempts, when I registered but couldn’t make it, I’m hoping to be third-time lucky and go on an Afghan food walk with them on Saturday evening. Fingers crossed for some naan and kebabs.
Buzzer round
What are adventure enthusiasts fuelling themselves with in order to be able to summit Mount Everest in one week?
Send your answer to indiabrief@ft.com and check Tuesday’s newsletter to see if you were the first one to get it right.
Quick answer
On Monday we asked: How many hours of work are ideal in a week? Here are the results — I see that none of you agree with S. N. Subrahmanyan. My colleague John Reed has also weighed in on the viral remarks by Larsen & Toubro’s chief executive.
And also, now that all three results are out, see if you got last week’s poll right.
Thank you for reading. India Business Briefing is edited by Tee Zhuo. Please send feedback, suggestions (and gossip) to indiabrief@ft.com.