A recent survey found that 72 per cent of Malaysian respondents ranked “attractive salary and benefits’’ as the most important employee value proposition (EVP) they seek in an ideal employer. “Work-life balance” came in second at 69 per cent, while the following three top EVP were “strong management” (64 per cent), “Covid-19 safe work environment” (63 per cent), and “financially healthy” (62 per cent) — according to the 2021 Employer Brand Research by Ranstad Malaysia.
“The issue of unmatched salary expectation is not new, yet it’s the most complex to resolve. There are many factors that come into play when it comes to salary calculation, such as salary legacy, cost of the rising standard of living, mismatch in skills and experience, gender disparity and more,” said Fahad Naeem, Randstad Malaysia’s head of operations. “Employers need to conduct regular audits to ensure salary equality and competitiveness, and find out if their investment in skills development of their workforce is adequate enough to retain their high performing talent,” he added.
The study also recorded “work-life balance” as having the most disparity between what employees seek, and what employers are perceived to offer. The category came in second in the poll for “what employees seek”, while coming in ninth in the poll for “what employers are perceived to offer”. More women were found to value work-life balance in their search for an ideal employer, with 73 per cent listing it as an important EVP, in comparison to 65 per cent of their male counterpart.
Meanwhile, 23 per cent of respondents reported to have plans to switch employers in 2021. Millennials were the most likely to switch with 28 per cent of them looking to do so, followed by Generation-Z workers at 24 per cent.
These were the results collected from 2,523 Malaysian respondents surveyed in January 2021, who were 53 per cent female, and 47 per cent male. Randstad Malaysia broke the demographic down further to 10 per cent “generation z” (18 to 24 years old), 32 per cent “millennials” (25 to 34 years old), 52 per cent “generation x” (35 to 54 years old) and six per cent “boomers” (55 to 64 years) old.
