Indian companies are among the world's 10 lowest paying employers in the IT space, with their mid-to-senior level staff getting an average salary of USD 38,767 (about Rs 21.5 lakh) per annum - less than one-fourth of the IT pay package at globally top-paying Swiss firms.

Salaries in the IT sector of Switzerland are the highest in the world at an average of USD 168,211 (about Rs 93 lakh) per annum, as per a study titled 'World wide IT Salary 2012'.

The study, conducted by global recruitment service provider MyHiringClub.com, has ranked India at eighth spot among 10 worst IT paymasters globally. On the other hand, Switzerland stands at the top spot among the top-paying nations in the IT sector.

The study, which was conducted in August this year, took into account the average salaries for people with four and more years of experience for the Indian and other companies.

The report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in more than 6,000 companies across 40 different countries and found that employers in western Europe are the best paymasters.

It also found that compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. At the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower-paying countries.

"Experienced IT managers are highly sought-after in India and there is strong competition to attract and retain skilled employees. MNCs rely heavily on Indian IT managers, so they need to ensure their pay is competitive.

"Although pay in Asia and Eastern Europe tends to be much lower, it would be difficult for firms to outsource the IT manager role to these regions. Instead, we may see a migration of IT skills from lower paying nations to places in Western Europe and North America," MyHiringClub.com CEO Rajesh Kumar said.

Interestingly, IT managers in India fare better than their counterparts in neighbouring China, where the average annual compensation package were lower at USD 38,624.

In addition, IT employees in India, scored better than their peers in Bulgaria, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at USD 23,745, USD 29,831, USD 33,768, USD 33,965, USD 34,107 and USD 36,790 respectively.

Among the best IT salaries paying countries Belgium bagged the second position with an average salary of USD 144,980, followed by Denmark (USD 136,542), the US (USD 128,632) and the UK (USD 127,890).