Survey Reveals That Malaysian Employees Are The Unhappiest With Their Salaries
Malaysia ranked the highest in terms of dissatisfaction among several Asian countries.
By Tamara Jayne
Have you been feeling frustrated that you are not getting paid for the amount of work you do every day?
If you're nodding yes, then you're not alone.
A 2020 survey by recruitment firm Hays Asia just revealed that out of several countries in Asia, Malaysian employees are the least satisfied with their salaries.
Around 6,000 working professionals from five areas were part of the study: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Out of those five places, Malaysia had the highest number of employees (24%) who had asked for a pay raise but did not receive any last year
Malaysians were also the highest percentage to actively seek new roles (52%), mainly because of their salaries.
The reasons employees look for greener pastures have remained pretty much the same for the past four years:
- Salary or benefit packages (62%),
- Seeking new challenges (48%), and a
- Lack of career progression (45%).
Additionally, the likelihood that companies will not be giving increments to their employees in 2020 almost tripled from 6% in 2017 to 17% last year, with Malaysian employers being the most unlikely to do so
The 2020 guide showed that Malaysian employers were the least prone to offer increments at 20%, followed closely by Singapore at 19%.
However, according to the guide, "Most candidates are unperturbed [and] still remain steady in their expectations for increments in the coming year."
The guide did explain a few reasons why employees stay with a company, indicating what employers should focus on
The top reason why employees remain at a company is work-life balance (43%), followed by salary or benefit packages (40%), and management style and company culture (33%) - a trend that is similar to last year.
With that said, the survey offered several solutions for those who are looking for a new job
Although hard skills are still sought after, 44% of employers are also actively looking for those with soft skills, such as problem-solving, teamwork, and verbal communication among others.
Meanwhile, hard skills that are still in demand include project management, statistical analysis and data mining, and computer skills, to name a few.
In conclusion? Money is obviously a problem here. But the bigger problem is bosses not parting with their monies.
Facts to bring up at your next appraisal perhaps?
