Wage hikes are higher than inflation in 2012, contrary to the situation last year, according to a survey conducted by the human resource service provider Mercer and its representative in Vietnam, Talentnet Corporation.

Hoa Nguyen, head of Mercer remuneration surveys and HR consulting services at Talentnet, said the average salary increase this year is over 13%, higher than the inflation forecast at 9.5%.

In particular, multinational companies increased their wages by 13%, while the average pay hike at local firms is 13.3%, says the 2012 Mercer Total Remuneration Survey.

Petroleum and banking are the two sectors with the highest salaries. On the other hand, manufacturing, transport and logistics pay the lowest.

Manufacturing, despite the meager wages, has the highest pay hike of 13.7% in 2012, followed by medicine and chemicals industry with a rate of 13.5%. Meanwhile, finance-related sectors including fund management and personal finance consultancy have the smallest wage increase of 11.3%.

At Vietnamese companies, senior staff members enjoy the sharpest salary hike of 16.9%, versus 13.2% of other employees, whereas foreign firms provide the same salary increases to all staff members, according to the survey.

The wage gap between foreign companies and their local counterparts is still considerable. Compared to multinational companies, Vietnamese companies pay salaries which are 19% lower for staff level, 25% lower for professional level and 30% lower for management level.

However, local firms pay higher bonuses. In terms of total income including salaries and bonuses, the difference between local and foreign companies is not that substantial.

Currently, many Vietnamese companies accept they will pay higher wages to lure talents from multinationals. The competition between local and foreign firms for human resources gradually improves the wage payment system, especially at the management level.

“However, it would take a couple of years for local companies to keep up with foreign firms. At present, to attract and retain talents, Vietnamese companies apply other bonus policies such as stocks and shares,” said Hoa.

The survey this year collected data of more than 121,000 employees of 371 companies nationwide. It is regarded as the biggest and most comprehensive remuneration survey in Vietnam.

Source: SaigonTimes