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About half (49%) of those who have changed to a new employer experienced a salary adjustment of more than 20%.
More than half (54%) of employees surveyed in Malaysia feel that they are not being fairly paid for their work contributions, skills, and experience.
This trend is particularly crucial to take note of, with salary being a strong motivator to many Malaysians — according to Randstad's Salary and Bonus Expectations report, 91% of respondents said that a higher salary would motivate them to change their jobs in 2023. Of the remaining respondents, these were the top factors:
- bad workplace culture - 50%
- poor work-life balance - 27%
- overwhelming workload - 12%
- career change - 11%
With this in mind, 30% of respondents changed employers in the last 12 months. In researching and negotiating salaries with their new employer, most self-evaluated their average pay based on job scope and responsibilities (35%), while other favoured methods include online salary reports or data (19%,) and personal and/or business networks (17%).
The study also looked into the salary adjustment (in terms of percentage) respondents received after changing to a new employer:
- More than 20% increment (49%)
- 16% to 20% increment (12%)
- 11% to 15% increment (12%)
- 6% to 10% increment (11%)
- 0% - 5% increment (16%)
Meanwhile, close to half (49%) of Malaysians who chose to stay with their current employer only received up to 5% in salary increments, while 28% who did so received an increment of 6% to 10%.
Still, 39% were told that their salary will not be increased until a later date.
Bonus expectations
In terms of bonuses, 31% of respondents have also been told that they would not be receiving a bonus for their work done in 2022, although a higher percentage would be (45%). The remaining 24% have either not been told about a bonus, or work at companies where the financial year-end is not in December.
Of those who receive a bonus, 50% received up to one month's salary in bonus, followed by two to three months' salary (35%).
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Lead image / Randstad Salary and Bonus Expectations report
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