Salaries for Asia-Pacific's advertising staff are moving up for the
first time in more than two years, in line with the region's economic
recovery.
But while pay packets are generally somewhat fatter than a year ago,
they have yet to return to the pre-recession levels of 1996 and
1997.
The huge salary spiral of the past, however, is not likely to occur in
the near future - at least not this year - despite the fact that
agencies are once again staffing up and dot-com companies are on a major
hiring spree, poaching senior agency executives.
An air of caution, which still prevails in the major Asia-Pacific
markets, is being fuelled by memories of the recent recession, still
fresh in people's minds.
This is underlined by a Morgan & Banks Job Index survey for the first
quarter of this year for Hong Kong and Singapore.
The good news was that the wage freeze has been largely lifted; only 18
per cent of respondents in the advertising sector in Hong Kong stated
that they would keep salaries where they were.
Three-in-four said they would implement wage hikes of between one and
six per cent, while six per cent indicated their readiness to give
raises of seven per cent or more. In Singapore, meanwhile, about 78 per
cent of advertising employers said they would be giving increases of
four per cent or more.
According to Morgan & Banks regional HR manager Kevin McCormick,
companies were generally optimistic, however, there was also the
sentiment that "we aren't out of the woods yet".
But while dot-com companies were trying to lure key advertising staff
with lucrative pay packets, including stock options, there were fears
that the Internet bubble could burst at any time.
In addition, Mr McCormick said, "The days of staff jumping ship for a
five or 10 per cent salary rise are gone, because companies are now
putting more focus on staff retention and attracting the right
people.
"We have also noted that employees are a lot more sophisticated. Yes,
money is important, but they are also increasingly placing more
importance on job satisfaction."
(See also pages 6 and 22.)
