Our flagship monthly pressure tracker for Indian careers. Built to reduce expensive guesswork in compensation and switching decisions.
Published: February 22, 2026
Overall Index: 65 (High Pressure)
Month-over-month change: +1 points. Use this as a directional pressure signal, not a personal destiny forecast.
| Month | Salary Pressure | Switch Difficulty | Layoff Risk | Overall Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2026 | 72 | 68 | 54 | 65 |
| January 2026 | 71 | 66 | 56 | 64 |
| December 2025 | 69 | 63 | 58 | 63 |
| November 2025 | 67 | 61 | 57 | 62 |
Input signals: Median compensation movement, offer compression by experience band, and fixed-vs-variable pay drift.
Decision relevance: Most career planning fails when people optimize for headline CTC and miss actual leverage quality.
Input signals: Interview loop depth, role competition ratio, and time-to-offer friction.
Decision relevance: A role can look attractive on paper but still be hard to enter due to cycle timing and market crowding.
Input signals: Freeze/layoff signal density, report confidence, and persistence over recent weeks.
Decision relevance: Downside risk compounds quietly and affects negotiation power long before formal announcements.
Use the index to choose skill depth over title optics. In high-pressure months, avoid shallow switches that only rename your role.
Treat index moves as leverage signals. If pressure rises, tighten negotiation evidence and reassess switching timelines.
Monitor downside asymmetry. High pressure means org-risk and team-stability checks should be explicit before transitions.
Is the index predictive?
No. It is directional and designed for decision hygiene, not certainty.
How often is it refreshed?
Monthly baseline updates, plus ad-hoc revisions during major market shocks.
Can one metric override the overall score?
Yes. In individual cases, a sharp move in one component can matter more than the aggregate.
Start with Salary Reality, then move to your role domain in Topic Clusters. Use this index as directional context for timing and risk, not a single-point answer.