The Hong Kong 4As has recommended that salary increases for agency
personnel this year should range between zero and three per cent.
This is in sharp contrast to this time last year, when the association
recommended an across-the-board pay freeze.
Hong Kong 4As chairman Jeffrey Yu said, "the worst appears to be over",
in reference to the territory's economy recovering from its recent
tumble into recession.
However, he told MEDIA that the association adopted a conservative
stance on its pay hike advisory "because agencies must still be cautious
about prospects and take things step-by-step".
Mr Yu added the recommendation is a guideline on what agency personnel
should expect to be getting.
"The recommendation applies to staff at all levels of an agency. We
cannot enforce it but the message to agency people is, 'this is what you
should be getting and if your raise fell inside the range we have
recommended then you know that what you have got is reasonable'."
The association also recommended that local China staffers working for
Hong Kong 4As agencies should get no more than a 10 per cent
increase.
Meanwhile, their expatriate counterparts should expect a salary hike of
between zero and three per cent.
The guidelines were unanimously approved by 4As members at the
association's recent general meeting.
