Why employees are on the move in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Job seekers in Malaysia have nominated better salary or benefit packages as the main reason why they wish to switch jobs in 2017.
Work-life balance was the number one reason why employees in Malaysia will stay with their current employer, according to the newly released 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide. Hays is a leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.
The annual Hays Asia Salary Guide reveals the results of candidates and employers surveyed from across mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The Guide also provides salary ranges for more than 1,200 roles based on research from 3,000 employers representing six million employees.
According to the tenth annual Guide, 34% of candidates across all countries are actively looking for a new job while 46% are open to new opportunities.
In addition to seeking better salary or benefit packages (61%) compared with 53% last year, the other key motivators for job hunting in Malaysia are:
• Lack of career progression (47%)
• Seeking new challenges (44%)
• The management style & company culture (40%)
• Lack of training or development opportunities (31%)
• Concerns about job security (20%)
• Poor work-life balance (19%)
• Work location (17%)
• Other (8%)
On a country level, salary or benefit package was the main reason why job seekers are looking to switch jobs in Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore whilst in Japan, a desire to seek new challenges was the main reason why job seekers are currently looking to switch jobs.
Key reasons candidates in Malaysia want to stay with their current employer are:
• Work-life balance (40%)
• Salary or benefit package (38%)
• Work location (31%)
• Career progression (28%)
• Training or development opportunities (25%)
• The management style & company culture (24%)
• Job security (24%)
• New challenges (22%)
• Other (6%)
On a country level, work-life balance was nominated by candidates in Hong Kong and Singapore as the main reason why they wish to stay with their current employer. In Japan, career progression is the key retention motivator with mainland China respondents choosing job security.
Other key candidate trends from Malaysia in the 2017 Guide include:
• 44% are happy with their salary, bonus, benefits package
• 79% are willing to relocate to a different country to secure a new role
• 53% believe their job performance is fairly evaluated
• 41% believe there is scope for career progression in their current role
• 29% say there is no scope for career progression in their current job and 30% are unsure
• 39% spend 1 to 2 hours of personal time a week enhancing their professional skills
"This year's Guide tells very different stories about why employees in Malaysia leave a job and why they stay," said Tom Osborne, Regional Director of Hays Malaysia.
"We have seen a significant increase in the number of job hunters motivated by salary and benefits but for many of those expecting to stay with their current employer, work-life balance is worth more than financial gain."
Asked about their salary expectations, 29% of candidates in Malaysia expect an increase from between 3% and 6% whilst 7% expect no increase at all. 50% expect a salary increase of more than 6%.
Of employers surveyed in Malaysia, 46% plan to award salary increases from between 3% and 6%. 4% of employers in Malaysia have no plans to award salary increases this year whereas 36% plan to offer more than 6%.
During the last salary review period, 50% of employers in Malaysia awarded increases from between 3% and 6% with 9% providing no salary increases. 30% of employers gave salary increases of 6% and more.
"While those planning to stay with their employer have fairly realistic salary expectations, employers will have to be mindful of the higher salary expectations of the candidates they are trying to attract, especially those companies with hard to fill roles," Osborne said.
Of employers in Malaysia surveyed for the 2017 Guide, 48% believe skills shortages have the potential to hamper effective business operations this year and 49% shortages to have some impact on their business operations.