TheÊdifference in the salaries men and women earnÊinÊAsia-Pacific’s travel, tourism, hospitality and lifestyle industry sectors is gradually widening, according to a major employment trends report released this week. The 2017 ÔSalary and Employment Trends Report’ by ACI HR Solutions, says while female executives are moving towards professional equality, their male counterparts continue to earn substantially more.
Andrew Chan,ÊACI founder andÊCEO, said while the subject of professional equality remains a hot topic and much has been said about bridging the gap, the disparity between male and female salaries continues to widen.
ÒSurprisingly, given the amount of discussion and coverage professional equality receives, and some of our clients having wonderful initiatives implemented, not only have we not seen the gap narrow, but over the past three years we have actually seen it widen from 48 per cent in 2015 to 55 per cent in 2016,Ó Mr Chan said.
ÒWhile the gap appears large, drilled down the 55 per cent isn’t a position vs position gap Ð the 55 per cent represented our overall survey, which actually highlights the disparity in the number of women holding senior positions.
ÒThe graph that best describes this in the report is the one that indicates the age of respondents by gender showing far less female respondents as the age group increases.
ÒThis ultimately shows us, irrespective of the salary component, there are far less females holding senior positions across these industry sectors in roles such as general managers and CEOs.Ó
The importance of higher education with more qualified employees earning substantially more than their lesser-qualified counterparts also came to the fore, with the report showing degree holders earn an average of seven per cent more than diploma holders and those holding masters degrees earn a further 25 per cent per cent.
But on a positive note, feedback from employers – and indicative of optimism across the various sectors surveyed Ð showed 40 per cent of hiring managers said they expect new hire levels in 2017.
From the perspective of salary satisfaction, 60 per cent of respondents indicated they had received some form of increment with the majority (45 per cent) in the range of a one to five per cent increase, this figure dramatically down from the 2016 result when 77 per cent of respondents indicated a bump in pay.
Respondents were also asked for their salary expectations if considering a new job offer; 56 per cent of respondents indicated they expected a greater than 10 per cent salary increase before making a switch, and this figure was down from the 67 per cent surveyed in 2016 who sought the same amount.
The importance of career development and employee satisfaction also remained similar to previous years, with 64 per cent of respondents indicating career progression was either Ôextremely important’ or Ôvery important’. This compared to 69 per cent in 2016.Ê
The residual 29 per cent indicated their career prospects with their current employers were Ôlow’ or even Ôzero’.
The report can be viewed atÊhttps://www.acihr.com/employers/salary-report.
