Thursday 14 March 2019

Salary Demands of Millennials in Asia


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  Be that as it may, countries aspiring to transition from middle income economies to high incomes ones need to revise outdated pay structures or else survive with low-wage foreign labour.




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