Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Human Resources wishes all of our readers a Happy New Year! It's been a really great year thanks to your industry insights, relevant takeaways, and thoughtful sharing - and we look forward to more collaborations with you this year.

On that note, we present a selection of our top HR news in 2017 in this special edition of our HR Bulletin. Covering salary trends to new HR policies, these popular articles hint toward the innovation and growth of the industry.

1. Highlights: Malaysia Budget 2018

Some key developments in HR include enhancing civil servants benefits, preparations for IR 4.0, support for women at work, driving TVET employees, propelling graduate hires, promoting diversity at the workplace, support for businesses, closing income gap, and changes in income tax for workers. Check out what’s in store for the Malaysia Budget 2018 here.

2. The average monthly salaries for Singapore NTU’s fresh graduates

The top three courses with the highest mean gross monthly salaries were business and computing ($4,407), accountancy and business ($3,893) and computer science ($3,848). For those looking to hire fresh grads in the new year, more details here.

3. All you wanted to know about salaries in Singapore this year

Regional HR directors were earning a monthly salary of $10,000-18,000, while regional marketing directors were getting a monthly salary of $13,000-19,000 last year - will these trends continue in 2018? Read more here.

4. Singapore’s EP application now requires more detail about hiring practices

In case you missed it, a number of significant new questions have been added to the Employment Pass online application form by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in late 2017. Check them out here.

5. RM600 cash allowance for retrenched workers under EIS effective Jan 2018

Retrenched workers in Malaysia will qualify for a cash allowance of RM600 per month for up to three months under the Employment Insurance System (EIS), starting January 2018. Read the details here.

6. Here’s how much expatriate pay packages cost in Asia

Japan leads Asia in the quantum of expatriate pay packages for middle managers at US$329,000 per annum. On that note, find out how Singapore and Malaysia fare in comparison here.  

7. Top 10 companies Malaysians are most attracted to work for

The top three companies that won Malaysia's votes included Google, PETRONAS, and Shell Malaysia. Find out which companies also made it to the list here.

8. 12 essential exit interview questions

To make sure you can make the most of the situation, click here for a list of 12 essential questions to ask your exiting employee.

9. Sick days: how many is too many?

According to a survey, five to eight days of sick leaves a year command as “not ideal, but acceptable” - where do you stand in this golden standard of taking sick leave? Read more here.

10. Malaysia’s salary and job trends for Q3 2017 across three sectors

For salary and job outlook data across finance and accounting, technology, as well as banking and financial services; check them out here.

Photo / 123RF