Employers in Hong Kong prefer offering bonuses and not increase in salary, according to recent findings mentioned in the jobsDB Job Seeker Salary Report 2015. It shows that 65% of the employees received a 4.7% average salary increase in 2015, while bonus on the other hand was equal to 1.7 month’s pay.
Of all the 23 sectors surveyed in the report , Building, construction and design job segment saw a steep rise in salary by 7.3%, while education, hospitality and F&B sector saw the lowest salary increments which were at 2.7% and 3;.2% respectively. The bonus on an average is 0.4 months higher than last year. The hospitality and F&B sector indicates to have received the highest bonus equivalent to 2.4 months of salary.
Considering the economic slowdown, employers in Hong Kong have been more cautious when it comes to hiring talent and offering them a salary hike. However, they are very comfortable offering bonuses to key performers as a strategy to retain talent within the organisation. On the contrary, business segments that have been experiencing dearth of human capital, offer a higher rate of salary increase.
“The salary increase dropped by 1.2% as compared to the figure last year, while the bonus increased from 1.3 to 1.7 months of basic salary. The reason for this low rate of growth may be attributed to the increase of operating costs owing to minimum wage, increased rental and food prices, coupled with the fall in the number of visitor arrivals,” Justin Yiu, General Manager of jobsDB Hong Kong comments.
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According to the report, 24% of the respondents who switched jobs owing to dissatisfaction at their current salary offered and benefits, received an annual pay rise of 6.2% on an average this year. Employees, who intended to stick on to the same jobs, received a 5.2% salary hike, while those who formulated the change on mind received only 4.2% salary increase.
“This report revealed direct causation between the salary, rate of salary increase and the intention to change job. Candidates generally believe that those who make changes get more pay, and that they intend to strive for more satisfactory salary and benefits by changing jobs. The data shows that those who changed jobs did receive a higher rate of pay rise than those who did not,” Yiu added.
One noted fact which might seem quite obvious that came across through this report is that, “The ‘millennial’ place stronger emphasis on salary and benefits than other age groups, and they are also more prone to changing jobs because of slim advancement prospects. Accordingly, employers may consider providing these young employees with more training opportunities so as to fully develop their potentials and enhance their competitiveness, coupled with attractive career advancement schemes to retain the quality staff,” Yiu states in the report.
The labour market has been witnessing a season of job change since February this year, and the number of job openings has been on a rise with employees showing a strong desire to switch jobs. At such peak times, employers are advised to pay closer attention to salary trends, movement in the labour market, industries experiencing maximum attrition, and then formulate pay rise mechanisms wisely to recruit and retain the right talent. Staff benefits can be enhanced to improve healthy competition within the work space and thus prevent brain drain.
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Image credits: jobsDB Job Seeker Salary Report 2015.
