Today news of India being one of the lowest IT paymasters is splashed across the media. Do you think that comparing US salaries with Indian salaries is fair or for that matter even comparing it to any country’s salaries is fair?
I think not!
According to the IT Pay around the World Survey 2007 rankings by Mercer, India stands at 4th from bottom just about Vietnam, Bulgaria and Phillipines in terms of salaries of IT managers world wide.
Here is the complete list of Top 10 and bottom 10 country rankings:
IT Managers: Lowest paymasters
IT Manager: 10 lowest-paying countries (various currencies) | |||||
| Local | USD | EUR | GBP | ||
| 1 | Vietnam | 15,470 | 15,470 | 12,180 | 8,140 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 34,25o | 22,240 | 17,510 | 11,700 |
| 3 | Philippines | 1,106,700 | 22,280 | 17,540 | 11,720 |
4 | India | 1,120,490 | 25,000 | 19,680 | 13,150 |
| 5 | Indonesia | 289,155,000 | 31,720 | 24,970 | 16,690 |
| 6 | China (Shanghai) | 265,810 | 33,770 | 26,580 | 17,770 |
| 7 | Malaysia | 129,930 | 35,260 | 28,040 | 18,740 |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 791,430 | 35,880 | 28,250 | 18,880 |
| 9 | China (Beijing) | 285,130 | 36,220 | 28,520 | 19,060 |
| 10 | Argentina | 133,040 | 43,180 | 33,990 | 22,720 |
IT Managers: Top paymasters
IT Manager: 10 top-paying countries (various currencies) | |||||
| Local | USD | EUR | GBP | |
| 1 | Switzerland | 176,920 | 140,960 | 110,990 | 74,150 |
| 2 | Denmark | 722,310 | 123,080 | 96,890 | 64,750 |
| 3 | Belgium | 95,380 | 121,170 | 95,380 | 63,760 |
| 4 | UK | 62,180 | 118,190 | 93,090 | 62,180 |
| 5 | Ireland | 85,200 | 108,230 | 85,200 | 56,950 |
| 6 | US | 107,500 | 107,500 | 84,650 | 56,550 |
| 7 | Germany | 84,020 | 106,730 | 84,020 | 56,160 |
| 8 | Canada | 106,000 | 93,860 | 73,870 | 49,370 |
| 9 | Hong Kong (China) | 702,720 | 90,340 | 71,120 | 47,530 |
| 10 | Australia | 115,480 | 88,850 | 69,950 | 46,740 |
The survey should have taken into consideration, the standard of living across various countries as that is the only way one can make a fair judgement.
Can a family in USA live on $1000/- monthly?, however, in India, a family can live very comfortably in that kind of money.
Is it same earning 1000 dollars monthly in HongKong to earning 1000 dollars here in India. No absolutely not!
The most surprsing part is the way media projects it. Read this “IT does not pay: India lowest paymaster”. What should one make by reading this headline?
Aren’t you comparing Apple to Oranges?
Author: Arun Prabhudesai
Arun Prabhudesai is founder / chief editor at trak.in. He jumped the Entrepreneurship bandwagon in early 2008 after a long 13 year stint in I.T Industry. You can follow him on twitter @trakin or get in touch with him at admin-at-trak-dot-in or 91.9822575676.Related posts:
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The most sensationalist headlines rule. That's why the media is made up of morons. They have a simple brief. Write articles with the most bombastic words and headlines. Afterall the aim is to grab as much eyeballs as possible.
I doubt if anyone proof reads their articles before they are posted/printed.
hahaha :)
The correct metric to use is the purchasing power parity (PPP) as that is a good indicator of the buying power of a currency.
@Philip you are so right, I have publsihed many posts earlier showing proof of how badly mainstream media reports. Their articles are badly researched and purely based on Hearsay…
Take examples of google phone launch news or the Internet numbers…and thats why alternate media like us bloggers play an extremely important role in creating the right picture….
@Srikant..Nice to see you drop by an comment. yes, you are absolutely right..I have put up small post on India's purchasing power parity earlier:
Indian Purchasing Power Parity to overtake Japan by 2025…
This is from the Economist. I read it in the morning today.
RELOCATING staff to Switzerland is unlikely to keep down wages in a firm's information-technology department. IT managers there raked in an average of $140,960 last year, making them the highest paid in the 35 countries surveyed by Mercer, a consultancy. European countries take six places in the top ten. It is clear why so many IT jobs are outsourced to developing countries. Managers in India earn just $25,000 a year. Only companies in Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Philippines pay less. AFP