Over two-thirds of India's blue-collared employees earn less than Rs 15K per month: report

Over two-thirds of India's blue-collared employees earn less than Rs 15,000 per month, way below the minimum wage set by the Central Pay Commission, a report said on Thursday.

Among the blue-collared workforce, women made Rs 12,398 on average (19 percent less than their male colleagues), according to a report by SalaryBox— a staff attendance and payroll management app.

The SalaryBox report was based on an employee user base of over 1.1 million people who actively use the platform. Information was collected on their salaries, gender, industry, and locations via the app from January to June 2022.

According to the report, less than 15 percent of the employee base earns in the range of Rs 20,000-40,000 per month, calling attention to the vast majority of Indians having difficulties securing a livable wage.

Interestingly, most firms pay wages below the minimum wage set by the Central Pay Commission (CPC)—Rs 18,000 per month, it noted.

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"For a long time, the topic of jobs—or rather, the lack thereof—has dominated India's economic discourse. While the headline employment or unemployment numbers get a lot of attention, another equally significant set of numbers—who gets paid how much—doesn't get nearly as much attention. It is high time companies bring in interventions that highlight this huge gap," said Nikhil Goel, CEO and Co-founder, SalaryBox.

The report also found that only 27 percent of the workforce is made up of women.

Employees working at supermarkets, grocery, kirana, general stores, and those in the garments and textile industries are paid at the lower end of the scale, with an average monthly salary of Rs 8,300, it said.

Logistics and transport, IT software, and tailoring or boutiques pay the most to women, with primary roles being telecallers, documentation executives, and recruitment associates.

"Economic development is still not translating into enough jobs for the yearly influx of educated young people entering the workforce. A much bigger proportion of Indians work in the informal sector, and they have been hit hard in recent months by increasing inflation, particularly in food prices," Goel added.

The persistent income disparity between men and women exists across all industries, and while workers' wages have been steadily increasing in numerous sectors, the value allocated to women's workforce is still undervalued, it added.

Although salons, schools, supermarkets, and boutiques employ nearly the same number of women and men, the pay gap persists.

Additionally, as the workforce gets older, the pay difference appears to widen even more, and women's participation in the labour decreases, the report added.