Majority of employers in Malaysia raised salaries in 2022

Employees can also expect their salaries to be further raised in 2023, predicted the Malaysian Employers Federation.
By: | November 25, 2022
Topics: Compensation and Benefits | Employee Experience | Health and Wellness | Malaysia | News

In comparison, only 65.2% of employers did so for their executives and 66.4% did so for their non-executives in 2021.  

This was revealed in the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Salary Surveys for Executives and Non-Executives 2022, which revealed that the average salary increase for executives was 5.26%, while for non-executives, the average was 5.35%. 

“In terms of forecasted salary increase for 2023, the survey indicated a 5.44% increase for executives and 5.43% for non-executives,” said MEF president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman, who launched the 28th edition of the surveys. 

“Approximately 90% of the surveyed companies attributed employees’ performance as the main criteria for determining executive and non-executive salary increases. The MEF Salary Survey also showed that more than 80% of the respondent companies granted bonuses in 2022,” said Syed Hussain.

The forecast for bonuses in 2023 for executives is 2.18 months, which was higher than the actual bonus in 2022 of 2.06 months, and for non-executives, the 2023 forecast for bonuses is 2.06 months, which was also higher than the actual bonus in 2022 of 1.77 months, he said. 

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Meanwhile, 70% of the surveyed companies said they were affected by the new minimum wage as compared to 29.7% that were not affected due to having already implemented it in May 2022. 

The increase in salaries depends on workers’ performance, as well as the financial performance of the companies, said MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan.