TeamLease forecasts 8.9%-9.5% pay hikes for retail, FMCG, logistics and e-commerce

India’s salary increments are projected at 8.6%-10.2% across industries in FY26-27, according to TeamLease. Retail-linked sectors fall within its sustainable-growth group, with technical and customer-facing roles expected to command stronger increases.

— Source publishedWed, 29 Jul, 2026, 16:14 IST·First seen Wed, 29 Jul, 2026, 16:27 IST·Source Times of India · Business

What happened

TeamLease projects Indian salary increments of 8.6%-10.2% in FY26-27. Retail, FMCG, logistics and e-commerce fall in its sustainable-growth group, with expected

Key facts

  • 8.6%-10.2% projected salary increments across industries in FY26-27
  • 8.9%-9.5% projected increments for retail, FMCG, logistics and e-commerce
  • 10.1% projected hike for IT Support Executives in sustainable-growth sectors
  • 10.7% projected hike for Project Engineers
  • 4.2% projected permanent-temporary salary gap in travel and hospitality

Why this matters

Factor higher compensation costs and scarce technical talent into target valuations, synergy models and post-deal retention plans for retail-linked businesses.

What to watch

  • Quarterly attrition and vacancy rates for store, warehouse, delivery and digital roles.
  • Increment announcements and hiring incentives from quick-commerce, e-commerce and logistics competitors.
  • Growth in revenue per employee, orders per delivery worker and warehouse throughput.
  • Consumer demand strength and retailer ability to pass costs through via pricing.
  • Minimum-wage revisions, labour-code implementation and urban cost-of-living changes.
  • Benchmark compensation by role and city rather than applying uniform annual hikes.
  • Shift a larger share of increments toward retention-critical technical, supply-chain and customer-facing roles.
  • Link wage budgets to measurable productivity targets such as sales per employee, fulfilment cost per order and store labour hours.
  • Expand automation and scheduling tools in warehouses, delivery operations and high-volume stores.
  • Review pricing, private-label mix and supplier terms for ability to absorb labour-cost inflation.