Salary hike rate dipped to just 3.6% in early 2016

Employees have become cautious in job hopping.

An early sign of salary regression in 2016 has been noted, with 60% of employed respondents in a survey indicating that they received a pay rise in 2016, with an increase of 3.6% in average − a big dip from the 4.7% recorded in 2015 and 5.9% in 2014.

According to a release from jobsDB, further, 4% of respondents reported a pay cut; a significant increase from the 1% recorded last year.

Lower job change intention in the local job market is revealed in jobsDB’s Job Seeker Salary Report for 2016. The survey was conducted in March 2016 to find out about the latest job market situation in Hong Kong. A total of 2,667 local employees participated in this survey.

Here's more from jobsDB:

The following job functions received the highest pay rise: “Building & Construction” (5.1%), “IT” (4.9%) and “Marketing & Public Relations” (4.9%). The job functions that received the lowest pay rise are “Sales, CS & Business Development” (1.8%), “Hospitality / F&B” (1.9%) and “Design” (2.4%).

Overall, 51% of the currently employed respondents received a bonus in 2016. An average amount of 1.2 months bonus (of the basic wage) was given − a significant decrease from the 1.7 months recorded last year. 45% of respondents received double pay.

More job seekers think twice before they leap: Local employees have become slightly more cautious in 2016 as only 39% of employed respondents intend to change jobs within this year − a drop from 43% recorded in 2015 and 51% in 2014. The most common reasons for seeking a new job include, “dissatisfied with salary/benefits” (55%), “low advancement opportunity” (38%) and “discontent with company culture” (28%).

Job functions with the highest intention to change jobs are: “Public/Civil” (45%), “Design” (44.9%) and “Merchandising & Purchasing” (44.5%). In contrary, the following job functions indicated the lowest intention to change jobs: “Building & Construction” (25.0%), “Management” (26.9%) and “Professional Services” (28.9%).

Employees willing to take up more responsibility with a 30% pay rise: When asked if respondents are willing to work under less favourable working conditions, 57% of them said they would require equal or less than 30% salary rise as a trade-off. Among them, over half of the respondents (57%) are willing to take up “heavier responsibilities”, while only 9% would accept “bad relationship with co-workers and bosses”. However, 26% said they wouldn’t trade-off their working conditions for any compensation.

Employees wish for more non-monetary perks to work harder: 63% of respondents admitted to engaging in personal matters during work hours, with 75% of them spending less than an hour per day on this. The job functions that engage in personal matters the most are: “Professional Services” (75.6%), “IT” (75.1%) and “Media & Advertising” (73.8%). “Insurance” (51.2%) staff spends the least time on personal matters.