According to the newly released 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide, 61% of workers planned to change jobs for improved salaries. This was up 8% from last year’s results which showed 53% of Malaysians were seeking better pay.
Other key motivators included lack of career progression (47%), seeking new challenges (44%), management style and company culture (40%) and lack of training or development opportunities (31%).
One in five respondents expressed concern over job security while 19% said work-life balance was a major consideration.
On key reasons to stay with current employers, work-life balance came in top at 40%, followed by salary or benefit packages (38%), work location (31%), career progression (28%) and training or development opportunities (25%).
Respondents who were comfortable in their current jobs also expressed satisfaction in management style and company culture (24%), job security (24%) and new challenges (22%).
According to the guide, which surveys candidates and employers from across mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, 44% of Malaysian candidates were happy with their salary, bonus and benefits package.
Just over half (53%) believed their job performance was fairly evaluated and 41% said there was room for career progression in their current role.
However, 79% were willing to relocate to a different country to secure a new role.
When asked about their salary expectations, 29% of respondents said they expected a 3%-6% increase while 7% said they expected no increase at all. 50% expected an increase of more than 6%.
Meanwhile, 46% of employers planned to award salary increases of between 3% and 6%, and 36% planned to offer more than 6%. Only 4% said they had no plans to award salary increases this year.
66% of employers in Malaysia intend to award bonuses to all employees, and 22% to only some employees.
The Hays Salary Guide highlights salary and recruiting trends drawn from more than 3,000 employers representing six million employees, as well as the salary ranges for more than 1,200 roles.
Hays Malaysia regional director Tom Osborne said this year’s guide told different stories about why Malaysian employees left their jobs and why they stayed.
“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,” he said.