Why are IT employees paid so much in India?
Here’s the truth:
Most individuals graduating from tier 2 and tier 3 colleges receive packages ranging from 2.5Lpa to 3.6Lpa, resulting in a take-home salary of around 20k to 25k. Even the starting salary for a clerk is 20k, and one can become a clerk with a simple graduation degree, the entire curriculum fees for which amount to around 40/50k. For engineering, the expenditure ranges from 5 lakhs to 20 lakhs depending on the college.
Only students from tier 1 colleges such as IIT, NIT, IIIT, BITS, and a few others receive lucrative packages, particularly in Computer Science and IT branches. Students from these colleges pursuing Biotech, Chemical, Civil, and Mechanical end up with mediocre packages in IT.
Individuals from tier 2 or 3 colleges have to put in extensive hours of hard work for years before they achieve a good quality of life and a decent package. While there may be outliers, it’s essential not to focus on them as they are exceptions. The majority of students, around 90-95%, receive a starting package of 3.6Lpa or 25k in hand.
Yes, individuals with 8 to 10 years of experience may eventually receive good packages or onsite opportunities, not necessarily because companies want to reward them but because these employees possess expertise in technologies with high demand in the market.
Furthermore, not all individuals with 10-15 years of experience earn significantly. There are instances of people with 12-15 years of experience earning around 10lpa or 12lpa, which translates to 85-90k.
It’s crucial not to fixate on outliers or place excessive importance on news reports about individuals receiving extraordinarily high salaries. Such stories often serve as smoke and mirrors for marketing purposes. Newspapers also require attention-grabbing headlines to make their articles more appealing.