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Deel, a global HR and payroll company, released its annual State of Global Compensation Report 2025, in partnership with Carta, an equity management platform.
Drawing on Deel’s vast internal platform data, spanning over 1 million contracts and 35,000+ customers across more than 150 countries, the report delivers in-depth insights on global pay trends, helping companies and employees benchmark compensation accurately. By leveraging such a broad and dense dataset, organizations can make more transparent, equitable, and data-driven pay decisions, across international teams.
Key global and India takeaways include:
- Compensation leaders remain unchanged: The US ($95K - $150K), UK ($82K - $117K), and Canada ($73K - $121K) continue to offer the highest median compensation globally across job categories.
- AI job specialization accelerates: Specialized roles in AI, cybersecurity, and digital marketing command 20% to 25% pay premiums due to skill scarcity and lack of established pay benchmarks.
- Equity grants for tech talent are consistently rising: Median equity grants for tech talent, as a share of company ownership, have grown consistently from 2021 to 2025, particularly in emerging markets like Brazil and India, marking a global shift toward equity-heavy compensation models. The US leads in equity package size, followed by Canada and France.
- Contractor hiring strategies shift: Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil now offer extensive contractor talent pools (80-90% of workers), while the US and Germany remain Full-time Equivalent (FTE) centric. India continues to show a hybrid workforce model, with 60%-70% full-time employees and 30% - 40% contract workers, underscoring steady reliance on flexible work arrangements.
- Gender pay gaps persist in tech and leadership: Gender pay gaps remain starker in tech and product roles compared to sales positions, where some improvements have been observed. The largest gaps are observed in Canada, France, and the United States. India stands out for having one of the smallest gaps globally, with median salaries for men and women nearly equal, both ranging between 13K and 23K, depending on role and function.
- Median compensation plummets in India: Engineering and data professionals in India saw their median pay drop from $36K in 2024 to $22K in 2025 - a 40% decline, despite expectations of salary hikes. In contrast, the US recorded an increase from $122K to $150K over the same period.
“It’s encouraging to see India emerge as one of the few countries where the gender pay gap has narrowed significantly. Median salaries for men and women now stand nearly equal, both ranging between $13K and $23K, marking one of the smallest gender pay gaps globally,” says Mark Samlal, General Manager APAC at Deel. "This progress reflects a broader shift toward fairness, transparency, and data-driven compensation models that reward merit over bias.”