In fiscal year 2025, salary hikes within the broad telecom sector have tapered down to an average of 9%. This shift comes after a talent war that drove increments to record highs two years ago has now subsided, and the demand for mobile phones has slowed down.
Munira Loliwala, VP (Strategy & Growth) at staffing services firm TeamLease Digital said, “In FY23, the telecom sector emerged as one of the top paymasters, with a maximum salary increment of 10.19%.”
“This surge was primarily fueled by significant investments in 5G technology, leading to a corresponding need for skilled professionals to manage the new infrastructure.” In the subsequent fiscal year, FY24, the average increment settled at 9.5%.
However, the distribution varies within the sector. Telecom service providers can still offer attractive hikes ranging between 10% and 12% in FY25.
Handset manufacturers in the telecom manufacturing space have scaled back their hikes. These manufacturers now hover around increments of 7.2% to 8.7%, as per TeamLease Digital.
Telecom Sector: Challenges and Inventory Pile-Up
The slowdown in mobile phone shipments during 2024 has contributed to this moderation in salary increases. Industry experts point out that muted demand has led to an inventory pile-up, impacting the overall compensation landscape.
Despite these challenges, some telecom service providers have maintained competitive salary hikes. Bharti Airtel, the second-largest operator had 23,628 on-roll employees at the end of FY24. The company provided increments in the range of 10-12%, according to insiders.
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Even loss-making Vodafone Idea, with over 9,000 employees, managed to offer hikes of 8-11%. Reliance Jio Infocomm, the largest paymaster in the telecom services space (especially in R&D roles), is yet to announce its hikes for this year.
Workforce Growth and Attrition Trends
The overall workforce growth in the telecom sector for FY25 is expected to slow to approximately 30%—a significant drop from 31% in FY24 and 51% in FY23. This decline reflects reduced capital expenditure at Jio and Airtel, both of which have completed their 5G rollouts.
Interestingly, attrition rates for telecom companies have decreased from 58.4% in FY23 to 43.4%. The easing competition for talent has allowed these companies to focus on strategic recruitment.
Positions such as field sales executives, customer relationship executives, retail executives, installation engineers, fibre repair executives, and cell site repair staff remain in demand.
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Additionally, apprentice roles have seen remarkable growth. Over the past two years, roles such as telecom tower technicians, in-store promoters, network engineers, and assembly line operators have expanded at an annual rate of 37%.
The industry engaged 22,918 apprentices by 2023-24, underscoring their importance in cultivating talent and addressing evolving skill demands.
Summing Up!
While industry leaders remain cautious, by FY26, the Indian telecom sector is projected to require approximately 20 million skilled workers proficient in 5G-centric technologies.
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