Merit doesn’t pay, assert Indian employees

NEW DELHI: India Inc. is being blamed for playing favorites when it comes to pay parity at the same level, employees said in a survey by JobBuzz.in, the employer rating platform from TimesJobs.com. The pan-India JobBuzz.in survey received 975 valid responses from working professionals across experience levels.

When asked if employees working at the same level in their own company had different pay packages, 90% said yes. Nearly 40% of the professionals feel this salary disparity is due to external hires being paid more while 35% say it is due to favoritism by managers. Only 5% reason the disparity is the result of better individual performance.

"Salary disparity is a highly sensitive subject across all experience levels. Employers need to address aberrations and correct misperceptions tactfully as these directly impact employee motivation, performance, productivity and loyalty. It is essential for companies to conduct salary-benchmarking surveys and correct actual and perceived inequalities in compensation among their workforce.

This will help them meet employee expectations and significantly improve performance and motivation levels," says Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com. Levels of Pay Gap All respondents report differences in their salaries, compared with their colleagues at the same level in their own organizations.

According to the JobBuzz.in survey, 21% employees feel that there is more than a 30% difference in salaries among people working at their level while 27% feel that there is a 20-30% salary disparity in their own companies. Most employees (34%) report a 10-20% difference in salaries of others with the same rank as them. Only 18% respondents say that the disparity in their company's compensation packages for the same level is below 10% reports JobBuzz.in.

Managers vs Their Reports The JobBuzz.in survey also attempted to find perceived disparity in salaries of managers and their reportees and it reveals a significant discontent among the subordinates. Almost 76% feel dissatisfied with the high disparity in pay between them and their supervisors. Over 38% respondents feel the pay gap was more than 40% while 26% say it is between 30-40%. Nearly 21% report the difference is between 20-30%.

Male vs Female This JobBuzz.in survey covered 429 women and 546 men. 95% of male respondents and 79% of the female respondents feel other employees working at the same level in their company had significantly different pay packages. Shocking but true, many employees feel there is still a significant salary disparity between the genders for the same profile.

Nearly 43% employees say there is a considerable difference in the salaries paid to male and female employees for the same role and level in their organizations. Nearly 25% respondents held that the level of salary disparity between male and female employees ranges between 10 and 20%. And 21% employees feel there is 20-30% disparity between male and female employees.

Another 7% employees say the disparity is higher than 30% in their own companies. About JobBuzz.in: JobBuzz is Times Jobs.com's employee to employee community which helps jobseekers decide which company, industry and role is right for them by providing them company reviews, ratings, salary and interview information contributed by members who happen to be current or past employees of a company