Mysuru, Bengaluru pay students, freshers more in stipends compared to other cities

BENGALURU: Mysuru and Bengaluru on average pay apprentices more as stipends than peers in other cities, according to a survey by recruitment firm TeamLease.
But among states, Karnataka’s position was not remarkable. Maharashtra topped the list as the highest paying state, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
TeamLease said the growing demand for skilled talent coupled with revisions in the Apprenticeship Act is positively impacting the apprenticeship eco-system.
Bengaluru on average pays a stipend of Rs 9,800 a month, followed by Mumbai (Rs 9,300), Chennai (Rs 9,300), Delhi (Rs 9,033) and Hyderabad (Rs 8,400).
Mysuru and Vijayawada were found to be the best cities for apprentices to work in, based on the stipends apprentices get relative to the cost of living index for the respective cities. Noida and Gurgaon were the worst on the same count. Because of this, the TeamLease report found that more than 80% candidates (with a majority from Delhi and Kolkata) are willing to relocate to any city for better pay.
Among the top paying sectors for students and newbies were IT & ITeS, construction and real estate, FMCG and automotive. The manufacturing and services sectors with jobs in construction/building, automotive and ancillary industries, electrical and electronics, tourism, hospitality, banking and financial services, consumer products/FMCG occupied the top slot, paying on average between Rs 9,000-10,000 a month.
The report indicated that metros such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata underpaid freshers compared to tier-2 cities. Stipends at most satellite cities/towns were 10-47% higher than the capital city of that state, said Sumit Kumar, vice-president, TeamLease Skills University. "Another positive is that the stipend offered on average was higher than the minimum wage. In fact, the median stipend is around 41% higher than the applicable minimum wage in majority of the sectors and cities," he added.
And which students get paid the most? The report says engineering students get better pay than arts and science graduates and diploma holders. When it came to non-engineering students, those with degrees got paid significantly more than diploma holders, particularly in sectors like construction, banking, financial services, tourism and hospitality. The report also noted that those with domain specific skills got paid higher than those with generic skills. Market stipends for technical graduates was 23% higher than for non-technical apprentices.
And what do employers want today? "A majority of employers (46-77%) expect applicants to be aware about essential soft skills and a good 63% expect applicants to possess domain awareness. Employers also rank domain awareness and quantitative, analytical abilities at the top in specialised domains like IT, finance and accounting, production and manufacturing. But in certain other roles such as administration, HR, sales and marketing, soft skills are rated higher than technical skills," said the report.