Jobstreet and Jobsdb launch Southeast Asia Hiring, Compensation & Benefits Report 2024 to help companies attract and retain top talent 

Jakarta, 16 July 2024 — SEEK, the parent company of Jobstreet and Jobsdb, has published its latest Hiring, Compensation, and Benefits Report 2024 (SEA Edition) to provide companies and job seekers with insights into the recruitment landscape in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Despite a stable employment confidence level across Southeast Asia at 52% for the first half of 2024, this figure is projected to drop to 37% in the second half due to increased uncertainty in market expectations, influenced by factors like economic conditions and global events. However, Indonesia (44%) and the Philippines (41%) maintain above-average confidence levels compared to Singapore and Malaysia (32%), reflecting a broader trend of caution and concern over a potential slowdown in the latter half of 2024.

Companies need to regularly evaluate and enhance their compensation and benefits strategies to retain satisfied employees and attract quality talent. Businesses often rely on key data such as salary benchmarking, inflation rates and other parameters to formulate their compensation strategies and provide pay raises. While other countries prioritise salary benchmarking, Indonesian companies focus more on inflation to determine compensation increases.

Due to strong post-pandemic business recovery, more companies across Southeast Asia awarded bonuses to employees in 2023. Performance bonuses remain the most popular, with the average bonus payment rising to 1.86 months’ salary. Improved business performance led to 85% of companies in Southeast Asia providing salary increases in 2023, with the average increase being 7%. Filipino companies gave the highest average raises (10.2%), followed by Indonesia (7.6%).

In addition to pay increases, promotion rates also rose in 2023, with 64% of employees experiencing career advancement opportunities across the region. Promotion rates were highest in the Philippines (70%) and Indonesia (67%), with Singapore recording the lowest at 59%.

One of the report’s key findings highlights company stress levels, with Singaporean companies reporting the highest average stress levels in the region. The top causes of employee stress in Southeast Asia are heavy workloads (37%), high pressure from management (27%) and insufficient career development opportunities (23%).

The report identifies a need for companies across the region to create more supportive environments in terms of mental health and stress management. Around 71% of respondents described their workplaces as moderately stressful, yet only 48% of companies currently offer adequate support to help employees manage stress, indicating significant room for improvement.

Encouragingly, 46% of Southeast Asian companies surveyed introduced new initiatives in 2023 to help employees cope with stress. Companies in the Philippines (30%) and Indonesia (15%) have prioritised mental health counselling or well-being talks, while Malaysia (17%) and Singapore (11%) place greater emphasis on employee engagement activities.

The Hiring, Compensation & Benefits Report 2024 (SEA Edition) can be downloaded for free at: https://id.employer.seek.com/page/rsa-hiring-compensation-benefits-report-2024.

Methodology: 

This study engaged 3,750 hiring professionals across five countries in Southeast Asia during September 2023. It delved into various topics, encompassing hiring practices and HR-related elements such as compensation, vacation entitlements, overall benefits, and prevailing working conditions. To ensure a robust and impartial outcome, a diverse array of industries and company scales were surveyed. Subsequently, the data was evenly balanced across the five countries for comprehensive analysis.