Hong Kong bosses remain best paid in Asia

Singapore - Senior managers in Singapore are taking home almost 25% less compared to their peers in Hong Kong who continue to top the disposable income rankings in Asia.

Managers in Hong Kong currently have the highest spending power amongst their Asian peers due to its international trade and finance hub status and low tax deductions, said the World Pay Report released recently by Hay Group. Falling behind into the top half of the global rankings accordingly are Thailand, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore dropped from third to fourth place this year as local companies are unable to contend with China's superior spending power resulting from its rapidly growing economy.

Charlotte Park of Hay Group Asia said, "The shortage of management talent in China's booming economy means companies need to pay over the odds to find and keep management talent, in comparison with more developed markets such as Singapore."

She added that the rise in living costs in Singapore has also "chipped away at managerial spending power".

As the demand for management talent exceeds supply in emerging markets, companies in more developed economies like South Korea, Japan and North America which are in the lower half of the rankings, need to raise the salary bar. Or be more creative in terms of talent management and retention. The report suggested that it is a necessity as managers in the fast-growth economies of the Middle East and certain parts of Asia have the higher spending capacity which may lure talent over. Only India remains the odd one out as its managerial spending power is equivalent to that of US managers, which is two times lesser than Hong Kong.

Despite describing India as "a value for money, high-quality talent destination for employers", Park believes the situation will soon change with the high inflation rate. "With a GDP growing at a fast clip and an average salary increase of 14%, it is likely that disposable income of managers will continue to grow for the next few years."