RICS and Macdonald & Company released its 11th annual salary and benefits study

Result indicate young professionals are highly valued in Asia’s property sector
HONG KONG, CHINA, October 18, 2017: RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and Macdonald & Company released its 11th annual salary and benefits study for the Asian property sector. The survey revealed that the age group between 25-30 years old received the largest average salary increase, as a result of employers being willing to offer attractive compensation packages to young professionals. Furthermore, RICS-qualified respondents continue to enjoy higher base salaries than their non-qualified counterparts, marking the importance of obtaining a professional qualification, with the earnings gap landing at 12.4 per cent based on the survey results.

The property sector, one of the major industries in Hong Kong, and an increasingly important sector in mainland China, is experiencing an improvement in market sentiment, with 52 per cent of property management respondents and 49 per cent of facility management respondents believing that their pay and benefits will be positively affected by market conditions over the next 12 months. The survey also revealed that real estate professionals now consider salary as the single most important job aspect, with 79 per cent of all respondents stating that salary is their top priority, followed by management style at 71 per cent, job security at 65 per cent and responsibility at 63 per cent.

"Despite how the economy performs, these needs are always there," said Mr Kenneth Kwan, board member of the RICS Asia Pacific World Regional Board. "As such, the people working in property are always enjoying a relatively secure job employment with steady progression in salary and position if they work hard."

Mr Clement Lau FRICS, Chair of RICS Hong Kong Board, said, "As the real estate industry in the Asia Pacific region continues to grow and prosper, we are pleased to see the remuneration of our young professionals can be benefited from such growth at the same time." He added, "We see more development needs in the future years due to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area initiatives and HK2030+, and suggest that government should set up more tertiary programmes related to surveying as well as construction, and create more job opportunities for young professionals."

The job satisfaction rate among real estate professions showed a positive overall employee sentiment, with 82 per cent of respondents indicating that they are "fairly" or "very satisfied" with their current job.