Is your degree worth more than you think? Employers offer premiums of up to 20% for THESE skills

A survey that studied workforce trends across 508 institutions in India has reported that campus compensation has grown by an average of 5.2 per cent compound annual growth rate across various courses over the last five years. 

The “Campus Workforce Trends” survey, conducted by Deloitte India, provides further important insights into on-campus placement compensation trends over the years.

Here are the top highlights of the survey giving an insight into compensation trends: 

Compensation growth

Campus compensation has grown by an average of 5.2% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the past five years across various courses. Meanwhile, M Tech and CA / CFA courses have experienced the greatest increase in compensation over the years.

Variable pay.

The report observed that companies opting for on-campus recruitment have adjusted their pay mix over the years and are increasing the weightage given to the ‘variable pay’ component in compensation in recent years. In the 2023-24 financial year, the weightage of this component rose by as much as 2.5% across different courses compared to the previous year.

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Joining bonus

Another attractive feature organisations offer when recruiting a new workforce is the joining bonus. This compensation component is becoming increasingly sought after. In FY24, as many as 48% of organisations offered it, compared with 33% in the previous year. Notably, this joining bonus had a 2-year clawback policy attached to the recruitment contract. The main motive behind this is to encourage retention and mitigate infant attrition.

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Internship trends

In FY 2023-24, the prevalence of internships across various degrees and campus tiers witnessed a significant decline, as much as 7%, compared to the previous financial year.

Traditional compensation trend

Although the compensation trend for management degrees has generally been increasing, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% over the past four years, the financial year 2022- 2023 was an exception. The report noted a significant decline of around 7% across various campus tiers due to high financial strain on the recruiting companies.

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LTI prevalence

The provision of Long-Term Incentive (LTI) instruments has progressively increased across companies, with a 38% prevalence among management degree holders and 57% among engineering graduates.

Compensation expectations

A decline in students' compensation expectations by as much as 7% in FY2023-24 compared to the previous year was noted. Going with market norms, campus students expect high compensation, but as per trends observed over the years, a downward trend was observed. This can be attributed to unemployment fear amid cost-cutting measures and fewer job vacancies.

Director of Deloitte India, Dr Neelesh Gupta, noted that employers prefer recruiting an experienced workforce. Regarding skill-based employment, he said, "We are also observing an increased emphasis on skill-based hiring, with skill premiums going as high as 20% for AI/ML, Robotics, Social Selling, Sustainability Management, and ESG."  

He added, "To ring-fence their young campus talent and instil a high-performance mindset right at the start of the career, organisations are considering increasing the variability of pay through short-term incentives."

The participating institutions covered several sectors: manufacturing, financial services, information technology, and pharma. The courses covered included various graduate and postgraduate courses namely BE, B Tech, MBA, ME, M Tech, Management courses (BBA, B Com etc), M Pharma, B Pharma, Hotel Management and Bachelor of Law.