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Asian salaries to rise in 2001, says survey

Asian employee salaries are expected to increase in 2001 at the same rate or higher than they did last year, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

According to a survey by consulting firm Hewitt Associates, Indian employers are predicting the biggest salary rises in the region, from 11.8-15.4 per cent, while Hong Kong increases are expected to be the lowest at 4.0-4.3 per cent, just slightly higher than in 2000.

Increase projections for professional staff and technical and non-technical specialists were 4.3 per cent for Hong Kong, 5.8 per cent for Singapore, 6.7 per cent for Thailand, 8.2 per cent for Shanghai, 10.8 per cent for Malaysia, 9.9 per cent for Korea, 13.6 per cent for the Philippines, 12.4 per cent for Indonesia and 16.2 per cent for India.

The highest regional increases in merit awards, or bonuses, would go to information technology workers, Hewitt said.

"The difficulty is in determining a competitive remuneration package that, among other things, will keep information technology employees engaged with the company," the survey said.

It said most companies in the region were worried about their ability to attract and retain talent, especially in Singapore where 89 per cent said attracting and 91 per cent said retaining staff were issues which vexed them.

"The salary upswings in some countries could be telling us that jobs at the managerial and technical level are going regional and salaries are reflecting this," the survey said.

"We may soon see a more regional salary and job structure where the pay differential between countries either disappears or is minimal."

In 2000, India also topped the list for biggest salary rises, followed by Indonesia where employees realised average base salary increases ranging from 13.3-14.8 per cent. But unlike other places surveyed, Indonesian manual labourers received the biggest increases and senior management the smallest.

Korean employers also awarded double-digit salary increases with professional staff and technical and non-technical specialists receiving the biggest increase of 10.8 per cent.

Japanese employers awarded the lowest salary increases ranging from 2.2 to 3.0 per cent.

Malaysian salaries rose 5.6-9.1 per cent; Singapore salaries 4.3-5.3 per cent and Thailand's 4.9-5.7 per cent.

Despite slow economic growth in the Philippines, salaries there jumped around 10.1-13.8 per cent.

Hewitt said salary increases in the Philippines do not always track economic conditions due in part to salary rises granted to unionised employees.

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