KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Recruiters Hays is reporting a growing gulf between employees’ expectations for pay increases and employers’ plans to meet these, which may cause key personnel to leave for better compensation.
In its 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide, over half of workers surveyed said they expect their pay to increase by at least 6 per cent this year.
In contrast, nearly half of firms plan to pay out salary hikes of between 3 and 6 per cent only.
Only 39 per cent of employers plan to award salary increases of more than six per cent.
Noting the mismatch, Hays warned that employees were also less likely to accept disappointment in the area in the current economic climate.
“The growing salary expectations of candidates are being driven by a number of factors including the rising cost of living especially in our largest cities,” said Tom Osborne, regional director of Hays in Malaysia.
“In addition to this, many candidates are well aware of both Malaysia’s strong economy and the very low unemployment rate and so they believe they can find another job if the salary increase awarded by their employer this year does not meet their expectations,” he said.
This concern is also exacerbated by another of the guide’s findings, in which nearly two in every three workers were already unhappy with their current pay levels and were planning to raise income either in new roles or by leaving for better opportunities.
Hays said at least a third planned to move jobs in the immediate future, with half of these already actively applying. More than 70 per cent were also open to moving abroad for the right opportunity.
“Our Guide is a warning to employers to reconsider salary plans particularly for candidates in hard to fill roles,” added Osborne.
The 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide includes salary and recruiting trends based on a survey of more than 3,000 employers representing over six million employees in five markets.
In Malaysia, employers from more than 15 industries were surveyed about remuneration trends for 2018.
