Despite persistent negative headlines about health restrictions and geopolitical uncertainty, Hong Kong is still expected to beat Singapore in terms of salary rises in the financial sector for 2023, according to Mercer.
Hong Kong’s banking and financial services industry expects to see a salary increase of 4.5 percent in 2023, according to Mercer’s annual Total Remuneration Survey (TRS) 2022, making it the leader by sector in the city.
This also marginally beats Singapore’s financial sector, which expects a 4.27 percent increase next year.
The two financial hubs in Asia saw a similar increase in 2022 with Hong Kong rising 4 percent and Singapore rising 4.02 percent.
Salary Drivers
Hong Kong benefitted from «efforts by the government to encourage enterprises to set up operations in the city and to invest in their businesses», according to Gary Chin, Mercer’s head of rewards for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the rival Southeast Asian hub was challenged by competing sectors seeking to hire, especially for the limited pool of tech talent.
«This means, employers will need to remain competitive when it comes to employee offerings,» said Mansi Sabharwal, Mercer’s reward products leader in Singapore.
Overall, companies in the APAC region are forecasting an average salary increase of 4.8 percent next year, up from 4.6 percent in 2022. India leads the region at 9.1 percent with Japan at the bottom at 2.2 percent.
