PETALING JAYA: Executives and non-executives are expected to see a 5% pay rise in 2025 owing to the nation’s improved economic growth, says the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman (pic).
“Employers are fairly positive on the situation, particularly during the later part of this year on the forecast with regard to economic growth and the GDP (gross domestic product), which are higher that expected.
“Domestic indicators show a positive trend and based on this, we have a strong feeling that with the government attracting investments, we will be in a much better position,” he said when launching MEF’s latest survey report here yesterday.
However, Syed Hussain pointed out there are still uncertainties that could affect the global economy, citing Donald Trump’s second stint as US president and the likelihood of more tariffs being slapped on countries such as China.
Based on a salary survey by MEF involving 12,882 executives and 25,871 non-executives from 236 companies from the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors, he said the federation is forecasting a 5.5% salary increase for executives and 5.41% for non- executives next year.
“Employers’ performance was the primary criterion for granting a salary increase in more than 90% of surveyed companies,” he said.
This year, the expected pay increase is 4.9%, compared to 5.88% in 2023; for non-executives, it’s 4.85%, compared to 5.56% in 2023.Syed Hussain said the lower pay rise is due to companies having to adjust to global geo-political factors such as conflicts in several regions affecting the supply chain.On annual bonuses in 2025, he said executives are expected to pocket 2.32 months’ bonus while non-executives will be looking at 2.22 months’ bonus.
The forecasted bonus increase is higher than the 2.14 months given to executives and 1.82 months to non-executives in 2024, he added.
