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Gurudutt
Kamath
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A newbie
technical writer from Ahmedabad asked me, “After a few years
as a technical writer, what does one become?” Basically, she
was asking me about the growth prospects as a technical writer.
My answer was that one could become a Document Manager or a Publications
Manager. I also told her that I did not become one because I was
not interested in managing technical
writers.
I just wanted to be a good technical writer. She showed me the salary
survey published in Indus, the STC India publication (check out
).
STC
India’s 2003 technical communicator salary survey indicates
that the median salary for technical communication professionals
in India is
Rs
3,10,000 per annum or Rs 25,833 per month. The survey also suggests
that 10 percent of the technical communication community earns upward
of Rs
58,333 per month.
A
median salary of Rs 26,000 per month. I am sure this compares with
developer’s and technical people’s salaries. I think we
are doing pretty well for ourselves. While the survey figures would
be slightly skewed because most of those who participated would
be STC India members or TWIN members. Even though they constitute
the majority, I am sure there are quite a few others who are not
represented. The salary structure is elaborated as follows:
The
median salary for technical communicators with less than two years
of experience is Rs 17,958 per month. The median figure for those
with two-three years of experience is slightly higher at Rs 18,000.
The three-four years of experience group earns a median salary of
Rs 25,000. The figure goes up to Rs 33,333 for the four-seven years
experience group. The median figure for those with more than seven
years of experience is Rs 58,333 per month. Just imagine, within
two years, someone could be earning as high as Rs 18,000. With seven
years, you could touch the peak of Rs 60,000!
Respondents’
profile
Out
of the 211 respondents, 122 were females and 89 were males. In other
words, we have a 60:40 ratio of females to males.
As
regards experience, as per the STC survey: “24 respondents
had zero to two years of experience, 50 had two-three years of experience,
45 had three-four years of experience, 58 had four-seven years of
experience, 22 had seven-ten years of experience, and 11 had more
than 10 years of experience.”
Geographical
distribution
Geographically
the respondents were from: Bangalore (44 percent), Chennai (17 percent),
Delhi (14 percent), Pune (9 percent), Hyderabad (6 percent), Mumbai
(5 percent), and others (5 percent).
How
many technical writers are there in India? Let us assume that the
technical writers who responded to this survey constitute 5 percent
(211), then the population of technical writers would be 4220. Indeed,
I think this would be a realistic estimate. My own guess was that
there are about 5,000 technical writers in India.
Starting
salary
We
do not have figures of starting salaries. If we say that those with
two years experience are getting 18,000 and those with four years
are getting 25,000; what is the percentage increase per year? I
think it is 14 percent per year. In good years, everyone does get
a hike of 15-20 percent. However, these are not good years. So going
by say 15 percent appreciation, if we reduce Rs 18,000 by 30 percent
(for two years), we get a figure of about Rs 12,000 (an annual salary
of say Rs 1,44,000). Indeed, those with six months to one year experience
should be getting this kind of salary. Newbies must be starting
with Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000.
Education
I
could not see any details of education in the salary survey. What
kind of education do technical writers have? I am sure 50 percent
have computer/ technical qualifications. Only about 10 percent could
be having writing/literature backgrounds.
I
wish the STC site had provided comprehensive information on technical
writing education available in India and abroad. What they have
is a hastily compiled list with minimal information. Go find out
for yourself, seems to be the attitude. Thank you STC India, for
the salary survey.
Freelancing
I
think freelancers are a tiny portion of the market. It would be
interesting to know how much freelancers are making. The market
these days is so
bad that it is tough to get
the salaries quoted above. I think freelancers will have to settle
for these figures.
Gurudutt
Kamath is a technical writer based in Mumbai. E-mail:
documentor@vsnl.com
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