KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Salary increases dropped by 0.4 per cent to 5.2 per cent last year amid higher prices for goods and services in Malaysia, a survey has shown.
The 2016 Total Compensation Measurement survey by global talent company Aon Hewitt Malaysia also revealed that fresh graduates in engineering, research and development (R&D) and project management received the highest salary offers at more than RM3,500 per month, while those in high-tech industries were paid 27 per cent more than counterparts in property and construction.
“With GDP growth steady at 4.2 per cent but CPI (consumer price index) at 1.8 per cent higher in November 2016 than the same month in 2015, the decline in salary increases translates to real wages diminishing for the Malaysian workforce,” said Aon Hewitt in a statement.
“Salary trends remain optimistic for fresh graduates as Malaysian employers are expected to continue paying a premium for jobs in high-tech and engineering-related fields. The gulf in pay for specialised talent will also shape the way employee demographics are structured in the future of work,” it added.
Aon Hewitt said more than half of fresh graduates entering the workforce throughout the country earned below RM2,500 monthly.
The survey also found that strategic planners in managerial positions earned RM2,500 more than all other managers across functions in Malaysia.
Finance managers in the high-tech industry were paid 16 per cent more than the market midpoint, while human resource managers received 21 per cent more.
“This is further evidence that this industry as a whole more readily invests in their people as an invaluable asset to the organisation,” said Aon Hewitt.
