Indian telecommunication services providers are expected to offer 8.9 percent increase in annual salary in 2017, said Aon Hewitt India in the 21st edition of its annual Salary Increase Survey.

The salary increase in Hi Tech/Information Technology will be 9.7 percent, while the salary increase in ITeS sector is expected to be 9.9 percent.

Consumer Internet Companies will be increasing their salary by 12.4 percent.

The survey projects a drop in pay increases to an average of 9.5 percent across industries. While it’s a marginal decrease from the 2016 spend, it reflects maturity that India Inc. has displayed amidst global and Indian economic and political events. This includes, and is not limited to Brexit, recent changes in the US government and the much talked about demonetization.

The salary projection is a marginal decrease from 2016 and it reflects maturity that India Inc. has displayed amidst global and Indian economic and political events.

“Political changes and economic headwinds have had an impact on business performance. However, the trend this year reflects a gradual slowing of pay increases and higher emphasis on productivity and performance — quite literally a ‘graying’ of salary budgets for India,” said Anandorup Ghose, partner at HR consultancy firm.

Industry sectors such as Life Sciences, Professional Services, Chemicals, Entertainment Media, Automotive and Consumer Products continue to project a double-digit salary increase for 2017. However they have taken a drop from their 2016 actual spends.

With tighter budgets, it has become imperative for firms to ensure that their ‘top talent’ is identified and remunerated accordingly, the survey pointed out.

The trend of investing in key talent continues. Firms are carving out high potential and hot skills along with high performers as their key talent segment.

The survey noted that organizations took a strong view towards performance differentiation and not only have bell curves become sharper, the pay differentiation between top and average performers has also increased.

The attrition rate in India was similar to 2015 at 16.4 percent. While attrition was contained at a broader level, key talent attrition increased from 7.3 percent in 2015 to 12.3 percent in 2016.

While inequity of pay remains a concern, the key reasons cited by employees for voluntary attrition are role stagnation and limited growth opportunities.