NEW DELHI: In preparation for achche din promised by the new government, India Inc has big plans for 2015 when it comes to hiring people and doling out pay hikes. On the platter for the job market, the companies are promising an estimated 300,000-500,000 new jobs, an increase of 15-20 percent in headcount and average pay hike of 10-12 percent that can go up to 30 percent for certain roles and sectors.
These ambitious plans, which experts mostly attribute to an upsurge in business sentiments since the new government took over around middle of the year, would make 2015 a much better year for the job market than 2014.  According to various human resource firms and job consultancy organisations, Indian companies recorded an average hiring growth of 10-12 percent in 2014, while salary hikes stood at about 8-10 percent.
With the economy showing signs of an upturn and the positivity continuing in the business sentiment, the experts believe that the hiring activities should get only better and the companies would dole out double-digit salary hike to attract the right talent.
The job market may get a further boost if foreign firms come to set shop here after certain sectors are opened up for further overseas investments, as promised by the government.
According to the global human resource solution provider, Aon Hewitt, the average salary increase for 2014 as projected by over 500 organisations in India stood at 10Percent, with a range of 8.8Percent to 12Percent across industries. Global major HayGroup says that the companies in India are likely to dole out an average pay hike of 10.5Percent in 2015 -- much better than many other countries in Asia.
Another major global consultancy Mercer said that the Indian companies are likely to keep their average salary hike at 11Percent in 2015, up from 10.6Percent in 2014. While hiring growth is expected to be robust across the sectors, IT, healthcare and pharma, manufacturing and engineering and retail could be the primary drivers of hiring followed by telecom, FMCG and financial services, staffing firm TeamLease Services' Senior VP Kunal Sen said.

In order to attract and retain key talent, apart from the general compensation increases, organisations would invest in wellness programs, retirement models, financial wellness, cohesive workforce and partnering with colleges to create specific talent pool. Attrition and growth may remain stable. According to the Employment Outlook Survey by workforce solutions major ManpowerGroup, Indian employers are expecting a brisk hiring pace for the January-March period and India has also emerged one of the most optimistic nations in the world in terms of hiring plans for the next three months.
Campus placements are already in full-swing and hiring plans of many companies, whose expansion plans were stuck due to policy paralysis, are now getting green signals. Sectors like infrastructure, power, energy, manufacturing, IT, ITES, retail, e-commerce, banking and non-profit sector would also see high demand.
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