Based on a report by online career-recruiting company Jobstreet, the highest paying jobs in the country for 2017 are in the engineering, IT and healthcare industries, while the lowest are in the hotel and restaurant, training and human resources sectors.
Industries
Highest Paying
- Engineering
- Computer/IT
- Healthcare
Lowest Paying
- Hotel/Restaurant
- Education/Training
- Admin/HR
Highest Salaries
Entry Level
- Engineering, Construction – RM5,533
- Hotel, Restaurant, Business Management Consulting – RM5,100
- IT – RM4,600
Junior Executive
- IT, Banking & Financial – RM6,500
- Healthcare Retail, Merchandise – RM5,950
- IT, Chemical – RM5,182
Senior Executive
- Science, Oil & Gas – RM28,250
- Healthcare Grooming, Beauty, Fitness – RM15,167
- Engineering Consulting RM11,333
Manager
- Construction, Oil & Gas – RM15,611
- Accounting, Jewellery – RM14,500
- Engineering, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) – RM14,500
Senior Manager
- Administration, Human Resources, Construction, Engineering – RM35,000
- Healthcare Services – RM27,500
- Semiconductor – RM27,500
Average Monthly Salary in Malaysia
- Minimum – RM800
- Median – RM5,000
- Maximum – RM83,333
Other Findings
- 6 out of 10 employees in Malaysia plan to switch jobs for better salary or benefit packages
- However, 40% stay with their current employer because of work-life balance
- 38% stay because of their salary package
- 40% of employees in Malaysia received average of 3% to 6% salary increment
Interesting Observations
- Although the hotel and restaurant industries offered among the highest salaries for entry-level positions, it is also the worst-paying industry overall.
- Lower level positions in certain industries offered higher salaries compared to management-level jobs; for instance, the salary of a senior executive position in the oil and gas industry is higher than jobs in the managerial role.
- Geography is a factor that influences pay levels for a given job. In general, salaries are higher in the central region such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
- However, the same job can offer different salaries depending on the location, such as the semiconductor industry in East Malaysia, which rakes in RM27,500 a month on average in senior managerial roles.
You can find out more from Jobstreet’s 2017 Salary Report.