Millennials (born 1981 – 1996) are an important part of the
workforce. They are seen as tech-savvy,
flexible, adaptable and passionate. But
not everyone will agree with that. Some
see them as spoilt, brash and plain laid-back.
Millennials comprise up to 25% of the Asia Pacific workforce
(JobStreet.com). PWC has forecasted that
they will constitute 50% of the workforce by 2020.
A 2016 survey by Universum Global, ranked major economies in
terms of salary expectations of engineers and business graduates. South Koreans demand the highest salary
followed by Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Much farther behind are China and India.
Within ASEAN (excluding Singapore), Thailand leads followed by Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
A survey by JobStreet.com found 68% of Malaysian employers
surveyed cited “unrealistic salaries and benefits” as to why it was difficult
to hire them. Average salary offered
ranges between RM2,100 – RM2,500 while 60% of graduates expect RM3,500. Another survey by Universum, indicates salary
expectations for engineering graduates is RM3,663 while business graduates is
RM3,265. Except for Vietnam, all other
countries show disparity between expectation and reality (In Vietnam, expectation
is lower than the pay offered by employers).
The disparity between expectation and reality is probably
due to rising cost of living, low unemployment rate (hence demand for higher
pay), personal aspirations and the fact that they may have graduated from
world-recognized universities. Be that
as it may, countries aspiring to transition from middle income economies to
high incomes ones need to revise outdated pay structures or else survive with
low-wage foreign labour.
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