Survey shows that wage packages are higher in S Korea and Hong Kong

Apr 23, 2007
AsiaOne

Where multinational corporations (MNCs) source for talents and set up shop depends very much on how much senior executives earn in a country.

According to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, while finance directors in Singapore are paid more than their counterparts in Japan (US$163,418), the pay here is still not too high compared to those in South Korea (US$212,542) and Hong Kong (US$220,775). Marketing and HR directors in Japan still earn more than in Singapore, however.

Finance directors here - often the second highest-paid executives in a company - take home an average annual total cash package of US$176,982, while marketing and HR directors earn an average of US$155,250 and US$166,152 respectively.

"Compensation has long been driven by such factors as history pay levels, size of economy and competition for talent," says Steve Gross, global leader of broad-based rewards at Mercer.

"As companies become more globally mobile and can shift some jobs to lower-cost locations, these new considerations will have a big impact on pay levels among countries."

The remuneration packages for finance, marketing and HR directors here far exceed those in China and India, the two rising Asian giants which are the main attractions for MNCs and investors currently.

Mercer's survey covered 2,300 companies in 50 countries, and it was found that while India had the lowest pay for those three positions, both in terms of base salaries and annual total cash, the US was the highest.

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