Salary increases for 2014 are set to remain similar to last year for employees in Hong Kong, with more than half of employers, 54%, intending to raise them between 3 and 6% and almost a third, 30%, expected to give an increase of less than 3% or no pay increase at all.
These findings are more conservative than the Asian average and also China, which is poised for Asia’s strongest salary growth in the year ahead, with over half of employers, 58%, intending to increase salaries between 6 and 10% this year. This, according to the 2014 Hays Salary Guide of over 2,600 employers, which reveals salary and recruiting trends for over 1,200 roles in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.
Despite Hong Kong’s cautious behaviour, however, it seems that the local economy is growing in both confidence and recruitment activity, with the majority of employers, 71%, expecting business activity to increase in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, almost half, 43%, intend to raise their permanent staff levels. This is good news for highly-skilled candidates within the job market, who can expect to see employers raising the bar when it comes to offering greater rewards and benefits in their attempt to secure top talent.
Speaking at today’s press conference, which released the findings of the report, Marc Burrage, Regional Director, Hays, Hong Kong explained, “Cost control has lowered the ceiling for salary increases in many organisations across Asia as employers are more focused on the bottom line. Certainly salaries remain competitive, and for the top talent many employers offer higher packages to entice candidates, proving that money still talks. But in general salaries are starting to become more conservative than they once were. This means that those candidates with in-demand skills and realistic salary expectations can be confident that this year will provide them with the opportunity to secure a challenging career move and a salary increase.
With this in mind, staff retention is set to be one of the key challenges for HR in the coming year, with Hays already witnessing 85% of organisations offering their employees benefits in order to manage retention— up from 79% last year. According to the survey, 53% of employers also intend to award a bonus to more than 50% of staff.
Joining Burrage at the conference, Kerry Rooks, Chief Human Resources Officer, The Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd added, “You have to pay the best to attract the best so when it comes to finding good people, HR will spend. Exceptional talent will be expensive but in this tough market environment, companies are willing to spend top dollar to find the right people despite tight cost control. It is important that HR strategies incorporate transparency and understanding of individual rewards to help employees understand the true value of their package. When it comes to retention, HR needs to adopt customised solutions to meet the needs of individuals as one size does not fit all.”
Such compensation and hiring trends are evident across various industries in Hong Kong. When Bó Lè Associates recently surveyed over 980 top-level decision makers in its Annual Regional Client Survey for 2013/14, for example, it found that most companies plan to offer 1 to 3 month’s salary as bonuses while increasing their senior executives’ base salary by 5 to 10%. Aligning with Hays’ findings, the Bó Lè survey also indicates that 50% of companies are looking to increase their headcount by 5 to 10% in 2014, suggesting that whilst organisations remain cautious at the start of 2014, their confidence in the future of the economy and its potential for growth is promisingly high.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
