Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): Employers remain cautious on plans to increase headcount and salaries despite the positive feel-good factor in the country, according to the 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide.

The survey, released today, is drawn from over 3,000 employers across mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, representing some six million employees.

The survey found that only 46% of employers intend to increase the headcount in 2018, compared with 44% in 2017.

At the same time, the salary increases will also be moderate this year with 49% planning to offer salary increases from between 3% to 6%, which is 1% lower than the actual reported in 2017.

Only about 39% of employers in 2018 plan to offer salary increase of more than 6% in the year ahead.

“The economic outlook for Malaysia is very positive, but our research shows employers will take a conservative approach to both permanent hiring and salaries in 2018 to make the most of these conditions.

“Although most companies in Malaysia plan to award only modest salary increases during their next review period, we do expect to see significant increases for candidates with niche skills moving jobs as well as those with skills in short supply in 2018,” said the regional director of Hays Malaysia, Tom Osborne.

Meanwhile, 73% of organisations are expecting business activity to increase this year in conjunction with growing business confidence in Malaysia.

The survey illustrated that optimism is also growing about the expected performance of Malaysia’s economy in 2018, with 23% of employers expecting the economy to strengthen further.

“This figure has increased by 10% from last year’s survey and highlights a growing optimism that all major engines of growth in Malaysia’s business and economic landscapes are synchronised in an upward trajectory,” it said.

Hays said a preoccupying worry for many employers in Malaysia is the continuing skills shortages issue in the country that is also a prevailing theme across the Asian region.

“Candidates must do their research on what is happening in their sector to assess how much power they have in the market in 2018 and whether they need to do more to develop the skills in greatest demand,” Osborne added.

For candidates, these conditions represent something of a challenge, of which 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.

However, it is likely that there will be fewer new jobs coming to market, said Osborne.

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