In a continuing trend, employees in Hong Kong remain the most satisfied with their current compensation packages in the region, finds the latest Asia Salary Guide report by leading recruitment experts Hays. However, this may see a slight change in 2020 as employers expect moderately lower raises when compared to employee expectations for the same.

This year marks the 13th edition of the annual Hays Asia Salary Guide, which remains a definitive snapshot of salaries for positions across industries in Asia. The salary and hiring insights, including a thorough market overview of business outlooks, salary policies and recruitment trends, are based on survey responses from close to 6000 working professionals located in the five Hays operating markets in Asia; namely China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Salary satisfaction remains highest in Asia

Despite a shrinking economy that saw Hong Kong fall into recession at the end of 2019, the overall sentiment towards compensation in the territory is still overwhelmingly positive. According to survey results, 66 per cent of working professionals in Hong Kong were satisfied or very satisfied with their current compensation packages, the highest percentage to think so in Asia for three years in a row. Hong Kong also had the highest number of respondents who successfully asked for a pay raise in the last year (36 per cent), as compared to the rest of Asia (24 per cent), which could have further contributed to this sentiment.

Interestingly, this year’s results also saw employees in Hong Kong surpass all other Asian markets in naming ‘Salary or benefit package’ as their number one reason for seeking a new employer (68 per cent). However, for the second year in a row, the majority of Hong Kong respondents still favoured ’work-life balance’ the most when it came to staying with their current employers (45 per cent), although this was closely followed by ‘salary or benefit package’ (44 per cent). From these results it is evident that compensation remains a primary motivator for both jobseekers and employees in the region, giving credence to its reputation as one of the most expensive cities in the world that is perhaps being compounded by fears of growing instability.

Moderate salary mismatch expected in 2020

These sentiments could see moderate changes in 2020, with most respondents expecting a pay increase from ‘above 3% but less or equal to 6%’ in the coming year (30 per cent), but most employers expecting salaries to increase by up to 3 percent (38 per cent). This indicates a slight mismatch in salary expectations, although 35 per cent of employers also expect salaries to increase by ‘above 3% but less or equal to 6%’ in the coming year.

Additionally, while 63 per cent of employers said bonuses form a part of their organisations remuneration package (the highest number in Asia after China’s 66 per cent), only 41 per cent said they would award ‘greater than 50%’ of their staff a bonus this year – the lowest number in Asia to say so.

Jack Leung, Regional Director at Hays Hong Kong commented, “Despite mounting economic hurdles, the results of our Guide show that Hong Kong has stayed committed to delivering consistently high wages that are both fitting and contributors to its role as a global economic powerhouse. While the year ahead will undoubtedly see more economic challenges, the region’s ongoing efforts to stabilise and digitalise major industries such as banking, will help minimise potential fallout for working professionals by creating more opportunities for progression and transformation.”

To download your copy of the 2020 Hays Asia Salary Guide, please click here.

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Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

Hays is located in Hong Kong at 6604-06, 66/F, ICC, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong.

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About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2019 the Group employed 11,600 staff operating from 266 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;

– the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;

– 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);

– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;

– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA