Monetary and non-financial benefits are equally important to retain Hong Kong’s SME employees

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SME employees desire a 5.6% salary increase in 2024; meanwhile, job stability, employee benefits, and supportive colleagues, are also crucial drivers of retention.

Offering a pay rise is one way to retain talent for many companies. However, a latest survey revealed that SME employees in Hong Kong weigh both monetary and non-monetary incentives.

According to Prudential’s annual Employee Satisfaction Survey, the main reasons for Hong Kong SME employees surveyed to stay in a job are:

• remuneration (90%)
• job stability (85%)
• bonding with colleagues/supervisors (81%), and
• employee benefits (80%)

In terms of remuneration, SME employees surveyed on average desire a 5.6% salary increase in 2024. However, when they consider their employers' financial situation and other macroeconomic factors, their expectations slip to an average 3.8%, similar to the 3.6% expected by employees in large enterprises.

Still, the survey showed 42% of SME employees not expecting any raise at all this year, well above the 25% of employees in big corporations anticipating a salary freeze.

Over one-third of SME employees (35%) said they are open to new job opportunities, up from 26% in the previous survey in 2022. Nevertheless, more than half (55%) of SME employees expressed a preference to stay with their current company, above the 51% of employees in large enterprises.

Furthermore, SME employees (62%) indicated slightly higher satisfaction levels with their current employer compared to those in large corporations (58%). Three key reasons cited for their contentment are:

• good connection with colleagues,
• harmonious relationships with superiors,
• equitable compensation

Over half (59%) of SME employees prefer to work with an SME, a notable increase from 41% in 2022. In contrast, only 30% prefer to work in large corporations. They cited the perks of working in SMEs are:

• harmonious relationships with colleagues and a “human touch” in the company culture (54%),
• less competition among colleagues (46%), and
• greater freedom in their work (45%)

Four-fifths (80%) of SME employees consider employee benefits a crucial factor in their decision to stay in a job. However, only around half (49%) said they are satisfied with the employee benefits provided by their current employer, down from 62% in 2022.

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