Tech firms may hike pay by 120% to hire, retain niche talent

Indian tech firms are expected to hike salaries or counter offers by 60-120% next year to attract and retain talent with niche technology skills, according to staffing services providers.

People in high demand include full-stack engineers, data scientists, data engineers and backend engineers, according to recruitment consultancy firm Xpheno.

“The war of wages put the negotiating power back into the candidate’s hands. Talent with niche digital skill sets in demand across enterprises saw a sharp rise in valuation and resultant remuneration changes,” said Kamal Karanth, cofounder of Xpheno.

This demand is likely to persist into 2022, till enterprises create an organic talent pool and upskill workers, which would typically take six-eight quarters, he added.

“The demand for digital talent will remain for sure, as more GCCs (Global Capability Centres) are lined up to set shop, more startups are getting funded, and IT services companies are winning more deals. The demand pipeline for digital talent is healthy and seen enlarging as we step into 2022 and kickstart the closing quarter for the current fiscal year,” he said.

Startups that have raised funds over the last few months are expected to roll out the highest offers and counter offers, ranging from 50-120% depending on the role.

IT services companies and GCCs, on the other hand, are likely to unveil relatively modest offers in the range of 5-14% for the same skills.

While demand for these skills will remain high, other niche skills are likely to gain in popularity over the course of the next year.