New Delhi, July 18 (IANS): Despite the government's concentrated efforts towards making India a manufacturing hub, the median hourly salary in the manufacturing sector decreased by 16 per cent, from Rs 251.9 in 2014 to Rs 252.1 in 2015 and Rs 211.7 in 2016, a report said on Tuesday.

"The rate at which the salaries in the sector are dipping could pose a challenge to attract new talent entering the marketplace," the Monster Salary Index (MSI) for 2016 stated.

The findings of the report indicate that manufacturing is the lowest paid sector with a median gross hourly salary of Rs 211.7. 

Analysing various parameters, the report highlights that employees in the manufacturing sector with only secondary education earn Rs 101.4, which is 62.6 per cent less than post-graduates at Rs 270.8. 

The male employees in the sector earn Rs 256.6 on an average and female employees earn Rs 179.8, constituting a 29.9 per cent gender pay gap. 

The report covers different sectors -- Information Technology (IT); banking, financial services, insurance; manufacturing; education and research; legal and market consultancy; business activities; healthcare, caring services, social work; transport, logistics, communication; construction and technical consultancy.

Among other job intensive sectors, the highest median gross hourly salary has been observed in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector at Rs 433.0 in 2016, followed by IT at Rs 386.8 and healthcare, caring services and social work sector at Rs 242.5. 

The median gross hourly salaries in education sector stood at Rs 204.1 in 2016.

"Manufacturing sector is the backbone for a mature economy as it fuels growth, productivity, employment and strengthens agriculture and service sectors," the report said.

"In India, the manufacturing output contributes about 16 per cent to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs nearly 12-13 per cent of the labour force. Despite being significant for the Indian economy, the sector remains amongst lowest paid at Rs 211.7," said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director (APAC and Middle East), Monster.com. 

Manufacturing typically is a labour intensive sector. However, owing to automation and technological disruption, availability of relevant skills and capabilities will be the key focus, going forward, Modi said. 

"Taking hint from this overall structural transformation, there is an immediate need for India to marry human skills with automation in order to fulfil its ambition of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse. The focus should now be on re-skilling, upskilling, building relevant capabilities and creating jobs for the 10 million young people who enter the job market every year," he said.