Wage growth in skilled trades is outpacing the broader corporate average by roughly five percentage points in 2026 with demand outstripping supply and formalisation of the sector, according to ProNearMe survey.

The platform, which operates home-services across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, surveyed 1,000 skilled service professionals on its platform earlier this year.

It has surveyed workers from four trades including air-conditioning service, plumbing, electrical work and carpentry.

The average year-on-year earnings growth reported by these technicians for FY26 was 15 per cent.

Aon’s India Salary Increase Survey for the same period put corporate India’s average pay rise at 9 per cent, broadly in line with the 9.1 to 9.7 per cent range that the firm has tracked over the previous three salary cycles.

The gap between the two labour markets has been building since the pandemic recovery, when home-services demand returned faster than the supply of trained technicians.

Simranjeet Singh, founder, ProNearMe said as urban housing density rises and air-conditioner ownership in metros crosses 30 per cent, the volume of service work has grown faster than the supply of certified technicians.

A skilled technician who is verified, KYC-completed, with a digital badge and a tracked transaction history earns 30 to 40 per cent more per booking than the equivalent worker in the informal economy, he added.

In the unorganised home-services market, technicians wait a week or two for payment from customers. App-based platforms settle in 24 to 48 hours through UPI or direct bank transfer, which improves the technician’s effective income.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey, released by the National Statistical Office, does not capture this liquidity premium because the survey records gross monthly earnings rather than realised cash flow, said the company.

The average monthly earnings of an AC service professional with 18 months or more of platform tenure range between ₹52,000 and ₹78,000 across the three metros surveyed, up from ₹40,000 to ₹58,000 in the comparable period a year earlier.

The higher demand during peak summer resulted in a sharper surge-pricing cycle than 2025.

Plumbing and electrical work cluster in a similar band, with monthly platform earnings between ₹38,000 and ₹62,000 for an active full-time professional, up from ₹32,000 to ₹52,000 in the comparable period. Carpentry, traditionally the slowest-growing of the four trades surveyed, posted the smallest gain, at 11 per cent year-on-year. Absolute earnings in carpentry were also lower, at between ₹28,000 and ₹46,000 a month.

Moreover, each booking that migrates from a neighbourhood arrangement to a platform invoice attracts 18 per cent GST on the service fee.

Published on June 13, 2026