Every year, a survey is conducted by Hays, a recruiting expert, to gather employers’ views on salary policy, recruitment trends and economic outlook. A total of 2,361 organisations, representing 4,017,026 employees from across Asia, took part in the 2015 Hays Asia Salary Guide survey.
The findings of the survey suggested that:
- Malaysia is ranked second to China in terms of salary increases in Asia
- Malaysians can look forward to a pay rise of between 3% and 10% or more
- 10% of employers in Malaysia intend to award more than 10% salary increases
- 33% of employers will award between 6% and 10% in increments
- 47% of employers will give a hike of between 3% and 6%
- 9% of employers will offer less than 3% raise
- 1% of employers will not increase salaries
- 11% of employers guaranteed bonuses
The survey also revealed that employers in Malaysia will be using both performance-related bonuses and hike in salaries, to reward their top performers in 2015.
Hays Asia Managing Director Christine Wright highlighted that there was a good chance employees would receive bonus if they and their company was performing well. Wright added saying that the demand for highly skilled professionals is one reason why bonuses continue to remain popular. Employers who are unable to offer a significant salary increase to their top performing staff are also using bonuses to reward and retain their best employees.
However, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Executive Director, Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan finds that a 10% salary increase for employees in Malaysia is “overly optimistic” given the current economic conditions. According to Shamsuddin, drop in petrol prices has impacted the economic outlook of Malaysia as 30% of our revenue depends on it. This can be a pull down factor for employers in their willingness to give a high salary review. Shamsuddin said a survey conducted by MEF last year predicted a salary review of between 5% and 6% only.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Secretary-General N. Gopal Kishnam said the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) would have an impact on workers, so employers should take this into consideration as well when determining salary hike.
