Thai companies are expected to give average salary increases this year of 5.4% over 2013 as management pays more attention to retaining staff instead of recruiting new employees, according to an international human resource consulting firm.
Employees worki at the colourful office of Ensogo Co, an online trading firm. (File photo by Wisit Thamngern)
The company surveyed 2,000 people in management at over 400 firms across 18 countries for its Asia-Pacific salary budget planning report and found the regional average increase is projected at 6.9% over last year. This prediction is lower than the last survey in September 2013, when the pay rise was estimated at 7.1%.
Pichpajee Saichuae, the managing director of Towers Watson (Thailand), said the projection for Thailand was also lower than the 6% in the previous survey because of the political conflict, which caused firms to be more careful in budget management and focus on retaining talented employees rather than hiring new staff.
The survey also indicated that the projection reflected workforce demands in industries such as the export sector and in manufacturing, tourism and retailing.
Pakistan was projected to give the highest average pay rise at 13%, followed by Vietnam (11.5%), India (10%), Indonesia (9.6%), China (5.2%), Hong Kong (4.5%), Singapore (4.3%), New Zealand (3%) and Japan (2%).