EMPLOYEES in Malaysia are the most dissatisfied with their current compensation packages in the region, says the latest Asia Salary Guide report by recruitment experts Hays.
The salary and hiring insights are based on survey responses from close to 6,000 working professionals located in the five Hays operating markets in Asia; namely China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Mismatched expectations
The report showed 46% of employees in Malaysia were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current compensation packages, the highest number to say so in Asia.
Additionally, Malaysia reported the highest number of employees in Asia who asked for a pay rise but did not receive one in the last year (24%).
These could be precipitating factors to the higher expectations that Malaysian respondents have for increments in 2020. The majority (27%) are expecting increases of “between 3% and 6%’, while others (25%) are expecting increases “greater than 10%” – the highest number to say so in Asia after China (40%).
In contrast, the majority of employers in Malaysia (39%) also expect to give out increments of 3-6%, but only 4% are looking at increases above 10%.
These numbers indicate the possibility of severe mismatched salary expectations in 2020, which is further cemented by 20% of employers saying they did not expect employee salaries to change at all – the highest percentage in Asia to say so.
Salaries key to employee attraction
In line with these results, Malaysia had the highest number of respondents in Asia who were actively seeking a new job (52%) and cited compensation as their top reason for doing so (67%).
But interestingly, compensation was not the biggest reason why employees would stay with their current employer. As many as 41% of respondents favoured work-life balance as what would make them stay, while 38% favoured salary or benefit package, followed closely by work location (37%) and management style and company culture (36%).
Malaysians also regarded training and development opportunities as more important than all the other Asian markets (26%). This shows that while Malaysian professionals may be attracted by higher pay, benefits that ease work-life balance and difficulties like travel to work or aid in upskilling would be key in retaining them over pay.
Hays Malaysia managing director Tom Osborne said: “As Malaysia’s brain drain continues to take some of its best talent outside of the country, it has become vital for organisations to offer more incentives to both attract and retain the best talent.
“These can be either monetary or non-monetary as with a mismatch in salary expectations imminent, organisations could turn the focus on more holistic benefit packages that can plug the gap by easing other areas of concern for employees,” he said.
“Another focus would be on upskilling, something that both candidates and organisations can look at to better justify higher increments.” – Feb 21, 2020
