Upward trend for salaries as Asia cheers up at last

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.)

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