Malaysian Workers May See Their Salaries Rise By 20% This Year

Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram for the latest stories and breaking news.

Depending on the industries, Malaysians can expect to see 3% to 20% salary adjustments, with high-growth industries, such as technology and manufacturing, making more significant changes, according to a survey by global human resource firm, Randstad Malaysia's 2023 talent and salary outlook report.

The report, released yesterday, 17 January, stated that the rising cost of living and hiking inflation in Malaysia has made an impact on people's ability to finance essentials and lifestyles.

It found that 74% of local employees prioritise salary and benefits when looking for a new employer.

As such, companies with workforce expansion plans or looking to hire candidates equipped with niche skills would need to offer a very competitive salary and benefits package to secure talent.

The report said that despite the recent tech layoffs, companies are still forging ahead with their technology recruitment plans, but with greater caution as the digital technology industry is projected to contribute 22.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.

Randstad Malaysia said that correspondingly, digital job vacancies have tripled from 19,000 to 56,000 within a year and 5G technology developments will create 750,000 jobs by 2023 in Malaysia alone.

Similarly, real estate and infrastructure development in the construction industry are expected to create more high-skilled job opportunities for local workers, but it could create problems if the skills gap continued.

As such, a data architect could earn between RM10,000 to RM20,000, while an experienced general manager/operations director in manufacturing could be taking home RM20,000 to RM40,000 a month.

"One of the key hiring challenges that many employers face is the lack of skilled talent in Malaysia. Employers have high expectations of talent to be digitally adept to deliver on projects and tasks. This is most evident in industries and roles that are highly technical in nature, such as engineers and developers," the report said.

A case study and research by Workmonitor Randstad found that 85% of workers in Malaysia said it was very important for employers to offer training programmes and educational development, but only 36% of respondents said they have received new training since last year.

According to the report, while employees in Malaysia are aware of their skills gap and are motivated to upskill, it is Malaysian employers who need to invest in upskilling their workforce.

"It is the employer's responsibility to work with experts or improve the capabilities of their internal learning and development team to upskill their employees through relevant and useful training courses," the report said.