Real estate staff in Asia better paid, but less happy at work

HONG KONG: Despite a pay rise last year and expectations of another one in 2011, real estate professionals in Asia are less satisfied with their jobs than those in Britain, the Middle East and South Africa, a survey shows.

Only 18% of the 949 respondents to the survey in the Asian real estate industry said they were "very satisfied" with their current jobs, according to global property recruitment consultancy Macdonald & Co.

Macdonald conducted the survey between November last year and January. It polled 8,351 real estate professionals in Britain, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.

William Glover, the company's Asia-Pacific head, said European respondents were the least satisfied at work, with just 10% saying they felt "very satisfied" with their jobs. And 37% of the Europeans got pay rises last year, with 55% receiving bonuses, Glover said.

In Asia, 60% of property professionals received pay rises last year, with 66% getting bonuses. Fifty-two% expected a pay rise this year.

But 36% of respondents in Asia did not consider their company an "employer of choice". "People are well paid in Asia. But when we ask if they admire their employers, quite a lot say no," Glover said.

In Britain, 37% of respondents got pay rises last year and only 15% expected a raise this year. Yet 30% of respondents in Britain were "very satisfied" with their jobs.

In South Africa, 23% of respondents were "very satisfied" with their jobs, while the proportion was 21% in the Middle East.

Asked if they considered their company an "employer of choice", 77 percent of respondents in Europe and 72% in Britain said yes, despite the unfavourable property environment.

Glover said as far as Asian responses were concerned, it seemed real estate professionals were not encouraged to feel proud of their  employers.

And higher pay came with higher risk since it was based on performance, he said.

Employers in Asia also regarded money as a sufficient reward and did not look at other elements, he said. As a result, Asia seemed to be heading in the same direction as the United States, where a high percentage of salaries in the industry were based on performance-related bonuses.

Glover said workers in such environments were less loyal as they felt they could lose their jobs at any time that the economy turned bad.

Employers in Asia, he said, might pay staff relatively well, but they did not inspire their employees.

24% of respondents were "very likely" to move on and change employers in the next 12 months, versus 20% in Britain and 19% in Europe.

Glover said real estate employers in Asia could take their cues from developers such as Sun Hung Kai Properties and Swire Properties, which encouraged staff to stay a long time. He suggested investment in long-term initiatives like training and promoting a strong company culture.

The survey also found that women were paid less than men with the same qualifications across the board — in Britain, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.

The biggest gender pay gap was in Europe, at 30%. Women real estate professionals in the Middle East were paid 29% less than men doing the same jobs.

In Britain, the gap was 19% and in Asia, women real estate professionals were paid 16% less than men doing the same job. — SCMP