A more cautious projection of 3% to 6% in compensation increases for employees is what employers in Asia are seeing in 2024.
This is in line with the findings of the newly published Hays Asia Salary Guide 2024, which polled 832 employers and 2,014 skilled workers in Asia, including countries like China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.
According to the new wage guide, 43% of businesses said they would raise salaries by 3% to 6%, while 22.2% said they would only raise salaries by 3%.
In this regard, areas like Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong witnessed the most improvements. Market reactions to hikes of up to 3% were varied, with the exception of China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, which all experienced increases. Japan had a notable decline, with more than 13% fewer employers falling into this category.
The report also discovered that only 12.6% of employers who answered the survey said they anticipated salary stability. This represents a decrease of 3.3 percentage points from the previous year’s data.
Additionally, the survey revealed that, in contrast to 66.7% of respondents to Hays’ survey in 2023, 64.9% of employers said they planned to offer incentives in 2024.
Overall, the survey discovered that, in contrast to workers who continued to be cautious about expecting raises, more companies in Asia appear optimistic about averting wage cuts or a lack of raises this year. Employees expecting a significant increase, however, are likely to be more disappointed because fewer businesses were willing to meet their demands.
