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News >> Technology >>
Pune programmers rake in mega bucks
By agencies
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Tuesday, 05 July 2005, 19:30 IST
PUNE: Close on the heels of a Gartner survey which showed that attrition levels are lowest in Pune for the software industry, a survey by the Society for Technical Communication , India Chapter (STC-I) now shows tech writers here earn some of the highest salaries in the country.
Releasing the findings of an eight-city, online, anonymous survey of 430 technical writers, STC-I said their salaries have grown 22 percent over 2003.
Yet, despite the 22 percent growth, salary levels remain at 15-38 percent of what their counterparts draw in the US. Its no surprise that, increasingly, U.S. companies are offshoring entire documentation teams to India.
Makarand Pandit, president, STC-I, said that although the exact number of tech writers is hard to come by; they estimate there are about 5,000 professionals across the country.
This also showed a demand-supply gap, since demand is believed to be for about 10,000 professionals in the industry. By 2010, the industry will have 10,000 professionals but the demand-supply gap would still remain.
The average annual salaries for tech writers in Ahmedabad is Rs 144, 000, Bangalore Rs 503,000, Chennai Rs 382,000, Delhi Rs 512,000, Gurgaon Rs 493,000, Hyderabad Rs 430,000, Mumbai Rs 300,000 and Pune Rs 525,000.
In keeping with the IT industry, attrition is high also in this sector, with 80 percent changing their jobs in three years. Only 10 percent of the professionals have any formal education in technical communication; the rest just pick it up on the job.
Pandit said that the difference in salary levels in India and the U.S. is higher at the entry level while those with an engineering background or some IT experience earn higher.
While 70 percent of those surveyed indicated they were happy with their salary levels, STC-I is trying to work out a roadmap for the sector in conjunction with industry bodies like Nasscom and the Computer Society of India.
We would like to increase the presence of technical writers in more cities. We have already been to Thiruvanthapuram, and to Kolkata in the east. Unfortunately, barring the University of Punes course in technical writing, there is not much formal training given to people wanting to join the industry, Pandit remarked.