Even As Corporate Profits Soar To Record Highs, Why Are Salaries & Wages Stagnant?

The government has again flagged the findings of a report on wages as one of the reasons for the shocking dip in Jul-Sep GDP growth figures. Speaking at the 2024 Global Economic Policy Forum, organised by the Ministry of Finance and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said that the low wages have led to a fall in urban consumption and savings which in turn hit consumer demand and brought down the pace of economic growth. The report, authored by Quess Corp with FICCI says that while profits of the Nifty 500 companies grew four-fold in the past four years and were at a 15-year high, wages in six sectors grew in the range of 0.8% to 5.4% in the corresponding, post-Covid period.