Intense Competition, Talent Crunch Push Companies to Hand Out 15-20% Pay Hikes
Indian employees have never had it so good. Intense competition and rising attrition levels are forcing companies to hand out 15-20% mid-term salary hikes. Reliance Industries, Marico and Dabur have offered mid-term increments and out-of-turn hikes of 15-20% to top performers in recent months. This is over and above the 15-20% salary hikes handed out during annual appraisals last year. This comes at a time when India Inc. is desperately trying to hold back talent, especially in telecom, IT, BPO and retail. A massive recruitment spree in sunrise sectors like BPO, telecom and retail has led to a demand-supply mismatch and mid-term hikes going up to 40%. Average attrition rates in IT have moved up to 22% from 18% and those in BPOs to 50% from 46%. In the manufacturing sector, talent exodus is averaging 8-12%. Several corporates are even offering bonuses and increments on a quarterly basis to top teams. An HR head said, “Although it is a short-term reaction, we have to react proactively to the market scenario and retain our performers. If one loses an employee, the average time taken for a new person to pick up the skills is up to six months, which is critical time lost for a company. Also, replacement costs like hiring consultants would in any case add up to a huge expense and a lot of pressure on HR,” said Dabur India HR chief. Company are identifying people who may be tempted to leave and are devising ways of retaining such talent – offering learning and development facilities for freshers, sending them abroad on one-year bonds (for six-months postings), etc
What is the average time taken for a new person to pick up the skills?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Upto six Months
The Dabur India HR chief says in the passage that when a company loses an employee, the average time a new person takes to pick up the skills is up to six months. That is why he calls it critical time lost, and why companies try hard to retain their performers.
Note: The passage is the NCERT case study ‘Intense Competition, Talent Crunch Push Companies to Hand Out 15-20% Pay Hikes’, which has been reproduced by NTA in the exam. This newspaper report sits in a box in the Staffing chapter. Give the boxes the same attention as the main text. NCERT (2026-27 Edition): “Several corporates are even offering bonuses and increments on a quarterly basis to top teams. An HR head said, “Although it is a short-term reaction, we have to react proactively to the market scenario and retain our performers. If one loses an employee, the average time taken for a new person to pick up the skills is up to six months, which is critical time lost for a company. Also, replacement costs like hiring consultants would in any case add up to a huge expense and a lot of pressure on HR,” said Dabur India HR chief.” |