Delivery execs highest paid as freshers in Blue/Grey collar sector: Study

The data shows delivery workers in Chennai and Bengaluru are paid more than those in Mumbai and Kolkata. Workers with over four years' experience also earn more than those in other cities

Delivery executives, especially in the southern states, get the highest pay as freshers in the blue/grey collar economy. The study, conducted by Billion Careers, a subsidiary of Quess Corp and a digital job platform for blue and grey-collar job seekers, unveiled salary trends of such employees in India based on recruiter job posting data on Qjobs, their digital hiring platform.

The study was conducted for telecallers, field sales executive, back-office executive, customer care executive and field sales executive. Commenting on the salary trends of blue/grey collar employees over the past year, Amit Nigam, Chief Executive Officer, Billion Careers, said, “The report reveals a promising landscape for freshers but a challenging terrain for experienced employees. Even though these roles more often go unrecognised, they play a crucial role in shaping customer experiences and in driving business growth."

Nigam added that the findings emphasie the need for firms to offer competitive compensation to retain experienced employees and prioritise their professional growth. English language proficiency, multitasking capabilities, computer skills, and soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and time management are highly valued in these roles.

"Job retention is equally important as job creation to ensure a more resilient and equitable economy and therefore it is imperative to roll out and encourage participation in upskilling initiatives, which will advance employees’ careers and encourage them to earn more,” he said.

Food, retail, and e-commerce delivery boys constitute a major portion of the blue and grey-collar workforce. The data provided on the average salaries of the delivery workforce emphasises the role of experience in determining the salary of a delivery worker, with those having 4 or more years of experience earning higher salaries on average ranging from Rs 2.24–3.68 lakh a year. The data shows that delivery workers in Chennai and Bengaluru are paid more than their counterparts in Mumbai and Kolkata. According to the data, delivery workers with more than four years of experience earn more than those in other cities.

The data also shows that the average pay for delivery workers does not always increase steadily with experience, evident in the case of Delhi, where the pay salary for a worker with 1-3 years' experience is lower than that of freshers. Delivery workers in South India have higher salaries than their counterparts in North India.

The data further shows that in Kolkata the pay for fresher customer care professionals is higher than those with less than a year's experience. Customer care professionals make the highest salaries in Bengaluru and Hyderabad (Rs 2.63 lakh p.a.) Those with over four years' experience are made such an offer. The average pay for freshers and the experienced in each city is different, with Bengaluru having the highest salaries for experienced workers.

For telecallers, the data shows that Chennai tops with Rs 2.12 lakh p.a. The highest average salary for new hires is in Bengaluru for those with 1-3 years of experience, and Mumbai (Rs 2.47 lakh) for those with four or more years of experience. Bengaluru has the highest average salary across all experience levels, followed by Mumbai and Chennai. For higher salaries, experienced job seekers prefer Mumbai and Bengaluru, while freshers prefer Chennai. Experience has a bigger impact on salaries for customer care professionals than it does on telecallers. and customer care professionals in all cities get higher salaries than telecallers.

The data also shows that the average salary for field sales executives in Bengaluru is the highest among cities, ranging from 2.30 lakh a year for beginners to 2.63 lakh for those with at least four years' experience. Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai have slightly lower average salaries than Bengaluru, with a range of 2.24-2.57 lakh a year, while Delhi and Pune have the lowest average salaries (Rs 2.12-2.48 lakh).

Figures also show that overall salaries increase with experiences, and that field workers with at least four years behind them earn the highest average salary in any city. However, the difference in average salary between novice and experienced sales managers is generally not very large--in most cities the difference is less than 10 per cent, except for Pune where the gap is more than that.

Data shows that salaries for back office managers vary widely by city and by experience. Mumbai has the highest average salary for experienced back office managers (Rs 3.12 lakh a year) with four-plus years of experience, likely due to the presence of many large corporations and financial institutions in the city.

Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru show a similar salary trend across all experience levels, suggesting that there may not be a significant difference in back-office skill requirements between experience levels in these cities. In terms of new back office managers, Chennai (Rs 2.46 lakh pa) offers the highest average salary, while Hyderabad (Rs 1.80) offers the lowest. The average salary of a back office manager in Chennai doesn't necessarily rise with experience, similar to the trend for delivery workers. This may be due to a flood of experienced candidates entering the job market.