Vodafone Idea offers salary hike to employees after two years

• Vodafone Idea offered some 10,000 employees an average increment of 9% along with 97% bonus pay.
  
• Airtel offered an average raise of 7.5% to nearly 16,000 employees this June.
  
• Jio is expected to roll out increments in August this year, while the company offered 90% bonus to roughly 15,000 employees.

In a relief to its employees, telecom service provider Vodafone Idea gave an average increment of 9% to 10,000 employees according to an ET report. The telco also extended a 97% bonus pay, the compensation above the base salary. This is the first time in two years since the merger, that the employees have received a hike.

While the top performing employees got a 17% raise in their annual compensation. The employees did not receive hikes in the last two years due to mounting losses.

The telecom player might have missed one increment cycle but its increments are better than that of its rivals — Airtel and Jio. Airtel offered an average raise of 7.5% to nearly 16,000 employees in June, the same as last year. Jio is expected to give it hikes in August this year.

The merger between Vodafone and Idea Cellular had shrunk the total employee base. Vodafone laid off over 100,000 employees, at the time of merger.

Reliance Jio’s entry and its deep discounts has disrupted the telecom market, stressing all its players and affecting their profits. It has also been eating into the subscriber market as well.

Jio added nearly 16 million rural subscribers during the last quarter of 2018-19, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Performance Indicator Report. While Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost around 20 million and 13 million, respectively.

Vodafone Idea shares rose by 2.97% to ₹12 in morning trade today.

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