Technology Companies in Asia-Pacific Plan for Robust Salary Increases in 2019

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 9 November 2018
- Salary
increase budgets at technology companies are expected to increase in China,
India, Japan and South Korea in 2019 according to
new data from Radford, a division of the
rewards solutions practice at Aon plc (NYSE: AON). In Singapore, salary budgets
are expected to remain flat at 4.0% in 2019. The fast-growth, developing markets of China
and India report the highest increases in salaries at 7.8% and 10.5%,
respectively.

 

 

Median Overall Salary Increase Budgets

Market	2018 Actual	2019 Planned
Australia	3.4%	3.3%
China	7.2%	7.8%
Hong Kong	4.2%	4.0%
India	10.4%	10.5%
Japan	2.8%	3.0%
Singapore	4.0%	4.0%
South Korea	4.6%	4.8%
Taiwan	4.0%	4.0%

Source: Radford Global Technology Survey Quarterly
Workforce Trends Report, Q3 2018

 

Meanwhile, technology companies
across Asia-Pacific also report increasingly optimistic hiring plans despite battling
high employee turnover at the same time. The prevalence of technology companies reporting
aggressive hiring plans– defined as actively planning and recruiting for organisational
growth– increased during the third quarter of this year in five of eight key Asia-Pacific
markets. In Singapore, the percentage of technology companies that plan to hire
aggressively increased for the second consecutive quarter to 4.9%. Companies
reporting aggressive hiring plans in India saw the biggest jump with an
increase from 16.8% in Q2 2018 to 21.1% in Q3 2018.

Percentage
of Technology Companies Reporting Aggressive Hiring Plans

Market	Q2 2018	Q3 2018
Australia	6.9%	5.9%
China	9.2%	8.6%
Hong Kong	1.8%	2.4%
India	16.8%	21.1%
Japan	4.0%	4.8%
Singapore	4.4%	4.9%
South Korea	2.2%	2.9%
Taiwan	2.5%	1.2%

Source: Radford Global Technology Survey
Quarterly Workforce Trends Report, Q3 2018

 

Voluntary employee turnover– another key
metric on the health of the overall technology sector– is up for the past
quarter in six out of eight markets. Voluntary employee turnover is highest in
Australia at 13.8% followed by China (13.7%), Singapore (13.2%) and India
(12.6%).

 

Average
Voluntary Employee Turnover at Technology Companies

Market	Q2 2018	Q3 2018
Australia	12.8%	13.8%
China	12.4%	13.7%
Hong Kong	10.9%	12.2%
India	12.7%	12.6%
Japan	10.1%	9.7%
Singapore	12.0%	13.2%
South Korea	8.4%	8.5%
Taiwan	9.2%	10.2%

Source: Radford Global Technology Survey Quarterly Workforce Trends
Report, Q3 2018

 

While salary increase budgets are forecasted
to be up in several markets, merit increases alone won’t be enough to hire,
engage and retain talent in a hot labor market. “Companies must assess what jobs are needed for
future growth and hire for those roles in a competitive marketplace while also
engaging and retaining their current talent when many other job opportunities
exist. Businesses with a voluntary turnover of above 10% should
evaluate their employee value proposition and talent practices carefully” says Alexander Krasavin, Partner and Radford Leader
for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

 

About Radford

Radford
partners with technology and life sciences companies to reimagine their
approach to rewards, empowering them to achieve superior levels of people and
business performance. Radford is part of Aon plc (NYSE: AON). For more
information, please visit radford.aon.com.

 

About Aon

Aon
plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad
range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120
countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics
to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance. For further
information, please visit aon.com.