Japanese professionals among most unsatisfied with pay across Asia
日本の従業員の半数近くが現状の給与に不満、昇給への期待度はアジアで最低の割合

Despite realistic expectations, employees in Japan remain among the most dissatisfied with their current compensation packages in the region, finds the latest Asia Salary Guide report by leading recruitment experts Hays. However, their expectations appear to be more conservative than employers, who may use moderately higher increments as part of their employee retention strategies in 2020.
This year marks the 13th edition of the annual Hays Asia Salary Guide, which remains a definitive snapshot of salaries for positions across industries in Asia. The salary and hiring insights, including a thorough market overview of business outlooks, salary policies and recruitment trends, are based on survey responses from close to 6000 working professionals located in the five Hays operating markets in Asia; namely China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Employee satisfaction low as wage stagnation continues

Results of the guide showed that 42 per cent of employees in Japan were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current compensation packages, the highest number to say so after Malaysia (46 per cent) and tying with China (42 per cent). But while both employers and employees in China still expect significant salary increases between 3-10 per cent over the coming year, Japan’s outlook is more conservative.
35 per cent of respondents in Japan said they expected salary increases of ‘up to 3%’ in the coming year, while 27 per cent said they expected no increase at all – the highest percentages in Asia to say so for both. This may be too conservative an outlook, however, as while most employers in Japan also expect salaries to increase by up to 3% (54 per cent), many also expect increases from ‘above 3% but less than or equal to 6% (25 per cent). Only 16 percent expected no raise at all, which tied with Hong Kong to be among the lowest to think so.
Additionally, 69 per cent of respondents in Japan did not ask for a raise in the last year, once again tying with China to be the highest percentage to say so in Asia.

Salaries high priority for employee retention

Unlike all other Asian countries, salary or benefit package was not the top priority for Japanese employees seeking new employers. For the fourth year in a row ‘seeking new challenges’ topped the list instead (56 per cent), followed by salary (54 per cent) and ‘lack of career progression’ tied with ‘management style and company culture’ (36 per cent). However, when it comes to retention, Japanese employees most favoured compensation as the reason why they would stay with their current employer (41 per cent), followed by work-life balance (37 per cent). This provides enough indication to employers who can map out attraction strategies that focus on professional achievement, but retention strategies that strengthen compensation and benefits.
Richard Eardley, Managing Director at Hays Japan commented, “Battling Japan’s ongoing talent crunch and wage stagnation will undoubtedly be a focus for many businesses in 2020. This is already the case, as the results of our guide show businesses expecting higher pay increases in the coming year than employees themselves. Considering the growing importance of employee retention in these market circumstances, organisations would do well to continue on this path and tailor both their attraction and retention strategies to address wage concerns and assure employees of a brighter future ahead.”

To download your copy of the 2020 Hays Asia Salary Guide, please click here.

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About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2019 the Group employed 11,500 staff operating from 265 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;
– the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA