The wage bill of private corporates increased 7.11 per cent during fiscal 2001-02, the lowest growth in the last four years.
If adjusted for an annul inflation rate of 3.60 per cent, the wage bill, which includes wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits, jumped by only 3.51 per cent.
The study is based on 1,437 companies with information on salaries and wages for the last five years.
In 2000-01, the employment cost rose by 9.54 per cent or 2.38 per cent if adjusted for inflation. The wage costs looked up 10.01 per cent in 1999-00 (6.74 per cent adjusted) and 11.54 per cent in 1998-99 (5.59 per cent adjusted).
The software sector stood the biggest paymaster during 2001-02, contributing 12.8 per cent of the salaries paid by the companies. The salaries of software firms rose by 34.72 per cent in 2001-02 from a 53.94 per cent growth in 2000-01.
The growth rate was 72.62 per cent in 1999-00 and 45.97 per cent in 1998-99.
The software firms
