Friday, October 28, 2011

No Pay Rise?!

I think for a lot of Malaysians, it is hard to imagine what it is like to have no pay raise for many years on end. In fact, many Malaysians have come to the assumption that salary adjustments can only mean the upward kind. This attitude is so prevalent that it is ingrained into the minds of many fresh graduates today. Pay increments are now taken for granted. In fact, people expect bonuses even without working beyond what is expected of them. It is called BONUS for a reason. BONUS is paid to people who do what is BEYOND the requirements. One of the reasons I am bringing this up is the 2010 Auditor General Report that showed many of the GLCs paying out 1-2 month bonuses despite making losses year after year. One has got to ask, what are they being rewarded for? Exceptional consistency in loss-making?

Here is what I really wanted to share


This is what the average income per person in Italy looks like in the past three decades or so. More importantly, look at the last 10 years (starting from 2000). Not only has it rarely budged from the USD34-36,000 range (in real terms), it has fallen to about USD33,000 after the recent financial crisis. Can you imagine no salary increases for 10 consecutive years? Can you imagine taking a pay cut after 8 years of no pay increases?

Remember that there is no room for poor attitude and nothing comes for free. Take nothing for granted.

HT: Marginal Revolution