How to negotiate a salary hike in 2026: increment data and a script

Careers & SalaryIshaan VardhanOct 26, 202610 min read

Indian employers budgeted average raises of about 9% for 2026: 9.1% in Aon’s survey, 9% in Mercer’s and 9.1% in Deloitte’s. To negotiate more than that, show where you stand against the market, put a specific number on the table and back it with results, and ask before the budget is locked rather than after letters are out.

Timing matters now. Surveys of 2027 budgets published in July and August 2026 show Indian employers planning raises of about 9.2% next year and US employers about 3.4–3.6%, so the pool for your next increment is being set over the coming months. This guide collects the published numbers, explains why the average is not your number, and gives a step-by-step way to ask. (LPA means lakh per annum; ₹1 lakh is ₹1,00,000.)

Key takeaways

• The big India surveys cluster tightly: Aon 9.1%, Mercer 9% and Deloitte 9.1% for 2026, with WorldatWork reporting a 9.3% actual for 2026.
• Sector gaps are wider than the averages suggest: Aon projects 6.6% for technology consulting and services against 10.2% for real estate and infrastructure.
• Companies are rewarding fewer people at the top: Deloitte found the share of top-rated employees fell from 10% to 7%.
• With retail inflation at 4.82% in August 2026, a 9.1% raise is roughly a 4.1% gain in real terms.
• Asking usually helps: in a Pew Research survey, about two-thirds of US workers who asked for more on a job offer got more than first offered.

What the 2026 increment surveys say

Several consultancies survey employers every year on planned and actual raises. Their headline India numbers for 2026 are close together, which gives you a credible benchmark to quote.

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Sources: Aon, MediaBrief on Mercer, Deloitte India and WorldatWork.

Aon also reports that attrition fell to 16.2% in 2025 from 17.7% in 2024, which it describes as close to pre-pandemic levels. Fewer people leaving means less pressure on employers to pay up across the board, so you need a specific case rather than relying on a hot market.

Your sector matters more than the headline

Within the same survey, the spread between industries is several percentage points. According to Aon, real estate and infrastructure (10.2%), non-bank lenders (NBFCs, 10.1%) and automotive and vehicle manufacturing (9.9%) lead its 2026 projections, while technology consulting and services (6.6%), life insurance (8.2%) and chemicals (8.3%) trail.

Mercer’s survey points the same way for some sectors: automotive is projected at 9.5% and high-tech product and consulting firms at 9.3%, according to MediaBrief’s report. Deloitte says pharma and life sciences lead at around 10%, while technology increments fell by 10 to 70 basis points compared with the previous year (100 basis points equals one percentage point), according to Deloitte.

The practical lesson: quote the figure for your own industry, not the national average. If you are in IT services, a 9% ask is already above the sector norm in Aon’s data and needs a performance or scope argument behind it. If you work at a product company or a lender, the sector number itself supports a higher ask.

How India compares with the US, UK and Canada

If you work for a multinational or a global capability centre, your budget may be set abroad, where the numbers are far lower. WTW reports that US salary increase budgets were 3.5% in 2026 and are projected at 3.4% for 2027, based on a survey covering more than 34,000 companies in 156 countries, according to SHRM. WorldatWork puts US raises at a mean of 3.6% for both 2026 and 2027, the UK at 3.8% actual in 2026 and 3.7% projected for 2027, and Canada at 3.5%, according to WorldatWork.

Two points follow. First, a global manager may see a 9% India raise as generous by their own standards, so explain the local benchmark in your conversation. Second, India’s higher nominal raises partly reflect higher inflation, which brings us to the real number.

The average is not your number

Inflation takes the first bite

All-India retail inflation was 4.82% in August 2026, according to the Ministry of Statistics (MoSPI), released on 14 September 2026, with urban inflation at 4.31%. By our own arithmetic, a 9.1% raise against 4.82% inflation is about a 4.1% rise in purchasing power (1.091 ÷ 1.0482 = 1.041). A 5% raise barely keeps you level.

Employers are concentrating rewards

Deloitte found the share of employees given the top rating on a five-point scale fell from 10% in 2024 to 7% in 2025, while the share promoted rose from 12% to 14%, according to Deloitte. Mercer’s Mansee Singhal told MediaBrief that companies are revisiting how many employees are eligible for an increment at all as a way to manage costs. Mercer lists individual performance, where you sit in your salary range, inflation and the company’s competitiveness as the main drivers of individual raises.

So the average hides a wide range: a small group of top performers and promoted staff gets well above it, and many people get less. Your goal is to give your manager a reason to put you in the first group.

Build your case before the conversation

• Market data. Bring the survey figure for your sector and two or three current job listings for similar roles. Official listings on our jobs board come from company career pages, so they are a fair reference for what employers are hiring for now.
• Where you sit in the band. Ask HR for your salary band if your company publishes one. Being low in the band is one of the drivers Mercer names, and it is the easiest gap to argue.
• Results, in numbers. Revenue influenced, costs cut, incidents reduced, projects delivered, people hired or trained. One page, three to five lines, each with a figure.
• Scope change. If you now do work that belongs to the next level, list it. Deloitte’s data shows promotions are rising even as top ratings shrink, so a promotion case can be easier to win than a large merit raise.
• Your number. Decide your target, the figure you would happily accept, and your walk-away point before you walk in.

How to make the ask

Pick the moment

Ask before budgets are final. A conversation one or two months before your appraisal cycle gives your manager time to argue for you while the money is still being allocated; once increment letters are out, changing the number is much harder.

Say a specific number, as a range that starts at your target

Research summarised by Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON) finds that the first number on the table pulls the final agreement towards it, and a meta-analysis of 90 studies led by Hannes Petrowsky found that making the first offer, and making it ambitious, tends to bring economic gains, though very aggressive openers raise the risk of an impasse, according to PON. Work by Daniel Ames and Malia Mason, also summarised by PON, found that a “bolstering” range, one that starts at your target and goes up, such as 12% to 14% when you want 12%, works better than a single figure or a range that goes down, according to PON.

There is one exception. For a new job, PON notes that recruiters usually know the pay range far better than candidates, so candidates are often better off letting the employer make the first offer.

A simple script

“Over the last year I took over X and delivered Y, which saved or earned Z. The 2026 surveys from Aon and Mercer put average raises in our sector at around N%. Given the scope I now carry, I’d like us to look at an increase in the range of A% to B%. What would it take to get there this cycle?”

Then stop talking. If your manager says the budget is fixed, ask what is flexible: timing of a promotion, a review in six months, a one-time bonus, a larger variable-pay target, stock options, or a training budget.

What a hike is worth in your account

A raise is quoted on CTC (cost to company, the employer’s total annual cost of employing you), but tax and provident fund take a share of each extra rupee. The figures below come from running our salary hike calculator for an illustrative ₹18 LPA CTC under the default new tax regime, with its standard assumptions (basic pay at 50% of CTC, capped provident fund, ₹2,500 professional tax). They are our own worked example, not survey data.

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At this salary, about 77% of each extra rupee of CTC reaches your bank account: the extra income is taxed in the 20% slab plus 4% cess, and a small slice goes to gratuity, which sits inside CTC. The gap between an average raise and a well-argued one, about ₹6,800 a month between 9.1% and 15% here, compounds, because next year’s raise is calculated on this year’s base. For the full monthly breakdown, use the in-hand salary calculator.

If the answer is no

A refusal is information. Ask what specifically would justify the increase and agree a date to review it. Get the commitment in writing, even as an email summary.

If the gap between your pay and the market stays wide, the market itself is the test. Pew Research found that most US workers did not ask for more pay the last time they were hired (only 32% of men and 28% of women did); of those who asked, 28% got what they asked for and 38% got more than the first offer but less than they asked for, while 35% got only the original offer, according to Pew. The same survey found women were more likely than men to say they did not feel comfortable asking (42% against 33%). The data is from the US, but the lesson travels: asking rarely costs you, and not asking often does.

Before switching, check the full offer, not only the fixed pay: variable pay and its payout history, joining bonus clawbacks, notice period buyout and stock vesting.

Bottom line

For 2026, about 9% is the Indian employer’s starting point, and roughly 3.5% in the US, UK and Canada. You improve on it by quoting your sector’s number, showing where you sit in your pay band, proving results with figures and naming a specific range early, before the pool is fixed. If your company concentrates rewards on fewer people, as Deloitte’s data suggests many do, the job is to show you belong in that group, or to find an employer that agrees.

FAQ

What is the average salary hike in India in 2026?

Aon projects 9.1%, Mercer 9% (median) and Deloitte 9.1%. WorldatWork reports 9.3% actual for 2026.

Is a 10% hike good in India in 2026?

It is above every major survey average, and well above Aon’s 6.6% for technology consulting and services. Whether it is good for you depends on your sector and where you sit in your pay band.

How much should I ask for in a salary negotiation?

Start from your sector benchmark, add a margin for scope and results, and present a range that starts at your target, which PON-summarised research found more effective than a single number.

When is the best time to ask for a raise?

One or two months before your appraisal cycle, while the budget is still being allocated.

What are salary hikes in the US for 2027?

WTW projects 3.4% and WorldatWork 3.6%.

What if my company says there is no budget?

Negotiate on what is flexible, such as promotion timing, a six-month review, bonus or stock, and get any commitment in writing.

Sources

1. Aon, “Aon Survey Projects Slight Uptick in Salaries in India From 8.9 Percent in 2025 to 9.1 Percent in 2026“, 24 February 2026
2. MediaBrief, “Mercer projects 9% rise in median employee salaries in India in 2026“, 17 December 2025
3. Deloitte India, “Average increment in India is expected to be 9.1 percent in 2026: Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2026“, 6 April 2026
4. WorldatWork, “Employers’ 2027 Pay Budget Projections Point to Stability“, 16 July 2026
5. SHRM, “2027 Pay Raises Expected to Hold Largely Flat Amid Cost Pressures“, 18 August 2026
6. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, “Consumer Price Index for August 2026“, 14 September 2026
7. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School, “When to Make the First Offer in Negotiations“, 18 August 2026
8. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School, “Anchoring Bias in Negotiation: Should You Make a Single Offer or a Range?“, 3 March 2026
9. Pew Research Center, “When negotiating starting salaries, most U.S. women and men don’t ask for higher pay“, 5 April 2023

Featured image: IIT Madras Research Park in Chennai, home to many tech and R&D employers. · Photo: Timothy A. Gonsalves / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

How this article was made: researched and drafted with AI assistance by the 100xFounder editorial desk, using only the sources listed in it; every figure links to its source. Read our editorial policy, or report an error through our corrections policy.

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Sources (9)

1. Aon 24 Feb 20269.1% projected 2026, 8.9% actual 2025; 1,400+ orgs, 45 industries; attrition 16.2% vs 17.7%; sector figures
2. MediaBrief 17 Dec 2025Mercer TRS 2026: 9% median, 8,000+ roles, 1,500+ companies; automotive 9.5%, high tech 9.3%; drivers; Mansee Singhal on eligibility
3. Deloitte India 6 Apr 20269.1% 2026, 9.0% 2025; pharma ~10%; tech down 10-70 bps; top rating 10%→7%; promotions 12%→14%
4. WorldatWork 16 Jul 20261,799 orgs; India 9.3% actual 2026, 9.2% 2027; US 3.6%; UK 3.8%/3.7%; Canada 3.5%
5. SHRM 18 Aug 2026WTW: US 3.5% in 2026, 3.4% projected 2027; 34,000+ companies, 156 countries
6. MoSPI 14 Sep 2026CPI inflation 4.82% in August 2026; urban 4.31%
7. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School 18 Aug 2026Petrowsky-led meta-analysis of 90 studies on first offers; candidates often wise to wait for first offer
8. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School 3 Mar 2026Ames and Mason: bolstering ranges outperform
9. Pew Research Center 5 Apr 2023most did not ask (32% men, 28% women asked); outcomes 28%/38%/35%; women 42% vs men 33% uncomfortable asking