The current economic climate in the country has the workforce wanting a pay rise to cope. According to font’s Market Pulse 2014/2015 survey findings, 83% of local professionals put money is their top priority when deciding to job hop.
Employment consultant font said in a statement, “It’s clear what talent feels they are receiving from their employer is less than what they have expected.”
Money is the top priority
“83% believed that money is the number one consideration for talent in an organisation, yet only 52% feel they were fairly remunerated last year, despite 60% of them receiving a pay rise,” said Priya Bala, regional director of font.
Despite 51% of companies believe they are offering competitive base salaries and 60% of the workforce receives a pay rise last year, only 52% of employees felt they were fairly remunerated in 2014.
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The survey found that despite Malaysia’s strong bonus culture, with performance bonus as the most common type of bonus offered, 66% of companies saying they offered bonuses to staff, only 41% of staff said they actually received one last year.
Roles in marketing, communications and events have the highest median salaries of RM109,608, while jobs in creative and creative services have the lowest median salary of RM52,000.
Career advancement comes second
The second most important consideration while job hopping is, professional development (76%), in the survey of 500 respondents across Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
“When it comes to professional development, 76% of talent said they consider this as a top factor, just behind money which is at 83%,” said Priya.
The survey found that 75% employers claimed that their company offered paid training and that 63% are focusing on career development opportunities as an effort for staff retention.
However, only 32% of local talent confessed that their company had actually drawn out a career plan for them to help them progress in their current role.
“It’s important for businesses to recognise these needs early on, rather than try and backtrack, and deal with unhappy staff when it’s too late.
“If the problems are not properly looked into, Malaysia may continue to face a brain drain, as candidates look across the border to Singapore, Hong Kong, China and beyond for regional exposure, opportunities and better packages,” she added.
