eNewsletter

A May 2010 survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM) reveals that salaries are once more on the rise in Hong Kong. In January 2009, less than one in three companies surveyed in the city had increased salaries over the previous year. In January 2010, this number surged above 90%. HKIHRM has been conducting similar pay increase surveys for the past two decades and noted that this was the highest proportion since 2005.

The average salary increase among the 125 companies surveyed in Hong Kong was just over 1.5%, while employees in the banking sector received pay increases of close to 3%. Increases in the manufacturing sector were around 2.5%. None of the sectors surveyed reported overall salary cuts this year.

In the same survey, HKIHRM found that around 47% of companies reported having a guaranteed bonus policy in place. For those companies offering guaranteed bonuses, the average amount was one month's salary. Another 37% of companies offered non-guaranteed bonuses, with actual payouts also averaging just over one month's salary.

In general these are good signs for Hong Kong's economy, which has been in recovery over the past 6 months from the global downturn. The latest statistics from the government show GDP growth expectations to be around 5% for 2010 (as compared with a 2.7% decline in 2009). Unemployment also reached a 15-month low of 4.4% in April 2010.