Despite being a great year for business, Malaysians may not be receiving high salary increments.
According to a poll conducted by recruitment company Hays, it has been revealed that when it came to increasing headcount and salaries, only 46% and 49% of businesses respectively were intending on doing so this year.
But the survey, titled 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide, revealed that 73% of firms surveyed are expecting business activities to grow this year. Also, 66% of employers polled saw an uptick in business activity in the last 12 months.
Optimism also grew on the expected performance of the national economy with 23% of employers expecting it to strengthen this year, an increase by 10% from the same poll in 2017.
But it’s not all bleak for employees. “Those staying in a job are likely to see only modest salary increases while those changing employers have a better chance of securing a higher salary, but there are likely to be fewer new jobs coming to market,” said Hays Malaysia regional director Tom Osborne.
But he added that such increases would be moderate in 2018 with 49% of employers planning to offer salary increases between 3% and 6%, which is 1% down from 2017.
The poll also noted that 39% of employers polled in 2018 plan to offer salary increases of more than 6% in the year ahead.
