Between 2021 and 2025, Pakistani employers operated in a perfect storm of elevated inflation, brittle supply chains, and a labor market that reset its expectations. In that turbulence, one question matters more than most: did pay keep pace with company performance and with the real cost of living?
Drawing on Mercer’s Total Remuneration Survey for Pakistan, this analysis follows a cohort of 100 large corporates, having more than 110,000 employees that reported consistently over five years. We map how salary increments moved relative to revenue growth and inflation, with a close look at Consumer Goods, the country’s bellwether sector shaped by global players such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, and Reckitt, and by influential local groups including
Engro, Packages, Tapal, and House of Habib etc. We then widen the lens to fast growing arenas such as Technology, Energy, Chemicals, and Life Sciences, where compensation choices are increasingly setting the market tone.
Our approach is straightforward and rigorous. We track increment to CPI ratios, total increment growth, revenue trajectories, and increments as a share of revenue from 2021 through 2025. The result is a sector-by-sector view of how value creation translated, or failed to translate, into employee rewards. Backed by Mercer TRS data and deep dive analysis from Abacus consultants, this piece is designed for CEOs, CHROs, and policymakers who need an evidence base to align growth, fair pay, and long-term talent strategy.