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EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES BRACE FOR CONSERVATIVE SALARY RAISES

Hays, the global leader in workforce solutions and specialist recruitment released the 2024 Hays Asia Salary Guide which surveyed 690 skilled professionals and 256 employers from Hong Kong SAR. The guide compiles salary and sector overviews based on real data and a survey of skilled professionals across China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Employers saw a shift towards more conservative estimates, with more companies looking to give raises of up to 6% this year. Meanwhile, employers looking to give raises above 6% fell in comparison to 2023.
 
 
31.3% of employers surveyed reflected plans to increase salaries by up to 3%, while 38.9% said they intended to increase salaries by 3-6%. Only 14.4% said they expect salaries to remain the same, which is lower than the 25.2% reported for the previous year. 57.9% of employers also indicated plans to give bonuses in 2024, compared to 58.4% in 2023.

The largest shift in employee expectations compared to last year was for raises above 10%, with expectations dropping from 22.0% to 14.6%. There was also a dip in expectations for raises between 6 and 10%, from 13.1% to 12.2% while expectations for raises up to 3% fell from 22.7% to 22%. 

Expectations grew instead for increments between 3 and 6% (from 25.4 to 29.3%), as well as among those expecting no salary changes at all (from 14.6% to 18.0%) and pay cuts (from 2.2% to 3.9%).

Faced with slower economic growth projections this year, both employers and employees are preparing for the repercussions on earnings and operational costs,” said Sue Wei, Managing Director at Hays Greater China. “Companies and workforces will need to be flexible to navigate these challenges amid rising skill shortages.”

On the hiring front, most employers in Hong Kong SAR expect permanent staff levels to stay the same, with 27.8% anticipating an increase. 15.5% plan to hire more contract staff in 2024.
 
For more 2024 trends and insights, download the 2024 Hays Asia Salary Guide. 

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Contact
For more information contact:
Bill Wang
Bill.wang@hays.cn
 
About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2023, the Group employed over 12,300 staff operating from 249 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2023:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,294.6 million and operating profit of £197.0 million;
– the Group placed around 76,800 candidates into permanent jobs and around 245,000 people into temporary roles;
– 15% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 30% in Germany, 21% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Engineering (10%), are the next largest
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, the UK and the USA