Hong Kong, Thai and Chinese bosses Asia's best rewarded

Sep 10, 2008, 3:48 GMT

Hong Kong - Managers in Hong Kong enjoy the highest spending power in Asia and the highest among bosses worldwide outside the Middle East, a survey released Wednesday found.

Hong Kong came in fourth overall while in other Asian countries, bosses in Thailand ranked 10th in global spending power, followed by those in China at 17th, Singapore at 22nd, Malaysia at 24th, South Korea at 35th and Japan at 39th.

The annual World Pay Report by recruitment specialists the Hay Group surveyed the spending power of bosses in 51 markets worldwide and found US managers ranked 41st.

The rankings were calculated on a US baseline score of 100. Hong Kong scored 199.6 while Thailand scored 162, China 145, Singapore 141.3, Malaysia 133.9, South Korea 108.6 and Japan 106.

The top three places were taken by Qatar with a score of 241.7, the United Arab Emirates at 218.2 and Saudi Arabia at 210.1. Oman (6) and Kuwait (7) were also in the top 10.

'Senior managers in Hong Kong dominate the disposable income rankings in Asia with spending power almost double that of their US counterparts,' the report said.

'This international trade and finance centre traditionally enjoys the highest pay - about a quarter more than other Asian countries - coupled with low taxes,' it added. 'Thailand, China, Singapore and Malaysia also fall into the top half of the rankings while the more developed economies of South Korea and Japan line up with their counterparts from Western Europe and North America.'

Of Asian countries, the lowest score of 82.1 went to Indonesia. 'Indonesia is coming off a low base and still languishes near the bottom of the global rankings,' the report said.

'However, the shortage of experienced management-level employees in the country has allowed local managers to demand higher wages, and we may well see this picture start to change in the coming years,' the Hay Group said.

Developed Western countries, where high taxes eat into bosses' pay, ranked low generally with Austria ranking the highest in Western Europe at 15th, followed by German at 18th, while Britain was at 47th with a score of 88.9 and Sweden bottom with a score of 75.6.

Other countries in the top 10 were Turkey in fifth, Romania in eighth and Russian ninth.