BENGALURU: As specialised skills such as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and full-stack developer are in demand, companies are ready to pay from Rs 8.2 lakh to Rs 10.2 lakh per annum for freshers.
Ramesh Alluri Reddy, CEO, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, said candidates with niche skills, particularly in high-demand areas such as AI/ML, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, are compensated at a premium.
“Freshers possessing these specialised skills can command starting salaries 20-30% higher than their peers, reflecting the intense demand and limited supply of talent in these critical areas. This trend is evident across both IT and non-IT industries,” he said.
In IT services sector, average salary for freshers ranges from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per annum, depending on role and organisation. “In case of IT product companies, salary can have 50-80% upside, depending on specialisation the fresher brings,” he said.
In its recent report, TeamLease Digital stated AWS and Microsoft Azure are sought-after skills. IT companies are offering salaries in the Rs 3.6-Rs 4.5 lakh range for engineering freshers, and Rs 2.2-Rs 2.8 lakh range for non-engineering freshers, as per Xpheno, a specialist staffing company.
About 82% of freshers in the IT services sector are in the sub Rs 5 lakh per annum bracket, 12% are in the Rs 5-Rs 7.5 lakh per annum range and 7% outliers are in the above Rs 7.5 lakh per annum range. Nearly 48% of fresh graduates across seven key non-tech sectors in the country including BFSI, manufacturing and pharma earn Rs 2.5 lakh or less per annum. 38% are in the mid-compensation level of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per annum.
“Skill-based outlier packages are in Rs 6 lakh-Rs 12 lakh range based on tech stack, specialisation, unique project experiences and performance on the internal skill grading systems,” said Krishna Gautam, business head, direct hire - IT, Xpheno.