EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES BRACE FOR CONSERVATIVE SALARY RAISES

 

Employers saw a shift towards more conservative estimates, with more companies looking to give raises of up to 6% this year. In comparison to 2023, employers looking to give raises surpassing 6%, maintain salaries or give out pay cuts fell.

 

22.1% of employers surveyed reflected plans to increase salaries by up to 3%, while 40.9% said they intended to increase salaries by 3-6%. Only 19.4% said they expect salaries to remain the same, which is lower than the 23.1% reported for the previous year. 59.3% of employers also indicated plans to give bonuses in 2024, compared to 60.4% in 2023.

 

The largest shifts in employee expectations compared to last year was for raises above 10%, with expectations dropping from 46.6% to 15.1%. There was also a dip in year-on-year expectations for raises between 6 and 10%, from 25.8% to 15.1%. Expectations grew instead for increments up to 3% (4.3% to 14.7%), increments between 3 and 6% (16.5% to 29.9%) as well as among those expecting no salary changes at all (6.4% to 21.0%) and pay cuts (0.4% to 4.2%), between 2023 to 2024.

 

“Faced with slower economic growth projections this year, both employers and employees are preparing for the repercussions on earnings and operational costs,” said Sue Wei, Managing Director at Hays Greater China. “Companies and workforces will need to be flexible to navigate these challenges amid rising skill shortages.”

 

On the hiring front, most employers in China expect permanent staff levels to stay the same, with 27.2% anticipating an increase. 22% plan to hire more contract staff in 2024.

 

For more 2024 trends and insights, download the 2024 Hays Asia Salary Guide.

 

Contact
For more information contact:
Bill Wang
Bill.wang@hays.cn

 

Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2023, the Group employed over 12,300 staff operating from 249 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2023:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,294.6 million and operating profit of £197.0 million;
– the Group placed around 76,800 candidates into permanent jobs and around 245,000 people into temporary roles;
– 15% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 30% in Germany, 21% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Engineering (10%), are the next largest
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, the UK and the US