Tuesday 7 October 2008

And you think the big pays big

Someone in my colleague’s team resigned and naturally, he, being the manager of the team had to look for a replacement. On a fateful day, a particular candidate who seemed to fit the bill based on her resume came to our office for interview.

She went through the usual protocol of filling the application form and was then sent to a room for the interview. During the interview, my colleague (the manager) was shocked when he looked at one of the information in the application form.

Expected salary = RM14,000!!!!!

My colleague nearly fell of the chair but of course, he tried very well to remain calm. The position in question was “Senior Financial Analyst” and the candidate is currently working as a “Financial Analyst” in her current company. And you know that? Her current salary is… RM11,400.

Current position is Financial Analyst
Current salary is RM11,400

Position applied for is Senior Financial Analyst
Expect salary was RM14,000

My colleague later found our from the candidate that she thought a “senior” position in one of giant foreign multinational organisations in the country, RM14,000 should be reasonable. Bearing in mind that the candidate is currently working for a local multinational, we certainly cannot blame her. What she does not is that the position she applied for, though “senior”, so to speak, does not even offer half of what she was expecting. Heck… it was not even half of what she was getting!

People in my department have always been complaining about being under-paid. This incident shocked us beyond words. If you think working in a big foreign multinational company means you will get a fat pay; well, think again. Those getting the fat pay cheques are those sitting in the headquarters.

Like I mentioned a few days ago, companies are definitely going to squeeze our balls. Recession or no recession, companies are going to use it as their licence to cut cost and squeeze more life out of us modern slaves. And while at it, they expect us to work harder to keep our job. So why not let everything come tumbling down and we start all over again? After all, most of us are at the bottom of the food chain already.

32 comments:

taxy said...

Yeah, and one friend in Bahrain mentioned that for Malaysia to "woo" back the brain drain from that country, would take RM40,000. That's per month.

leyaw said...

Too many companies are treating Malaysian as cheap labour. This kind of mentality has to change or else we will never improve on our standard of living and we will keep on losing the best brains.

"omamee" said...

this happens everywhere... the longer you stay in a company, the lesser your worth will be cos new candidates will always be paid higher to "lure" them into the company...

hr everywhere claims that the remuneration scheme offered is on par if not better than the industry but... are the actual facts and figures for real? (shrugs)

Anonymous said...

cute doggie...hahaha

some shop assist(spm) earn 8k

trusted and 2nd man of the taukey

Anonymous said...

did she get that job? :P

Anonymous said...

There are 2 hypothesis on why this is happening. One, the girl is over paid and second, you guys are underpaid.

Just on the surface of things, I think the girl is overpaid or exaggerating her pay. I think the world is fair, you get paid for what you are worth. She may doing a great job and could contribute more than just a back-end financial analyst position. Anyway, accounting/ financial analyst jobs are sometime non value adding jobs.

I heard that strategic consultancy pays significantly higher than the salaries that you have quoted for people with similar experience. These people value add significantly to the clients and people are willing to pay big amount of money for that.

I don't understand why you always complaining that we are "modern slavery". It's a free world, you can move to Australia or UK, they supposedly work less there.

CK said...

1st, i think her projection from 11k to 14k is somehow logic with the promotion to senior level.

too bad though. again, underpaid or overpaid, it's our choice. as employer, they will never voluntarily pay you the best.

also, in MNSs, those pp in HQ gets the best as you mentioned.

sigh~

Anonymous said...

thats per month right?

myop101 said...

waaah...that's a bit over the top le...

haha... i know for sure your colleague's dept would not have the budget....:P

as for starting over, hehe...not yet my friend...not yet...but i will slow down my pace la since i know this year's and next year's budgets wouldn't be met... i think mgmt is crazy to set it in the first place....

Huei said...

14k!!!!!!!!!!!

damn i wish i had that..MINUS THE 1 infront!!! my pay so lowwwww

so so so lowwwwwww

='(

so bad..i'm doing something i like now..but the pay is so damn low haih

Purple~MushRooM said...

Maybe she's a good cock-sucker in her current co? hahaha! Nah... put the joke aside.

Wow... very very high salary for a Fin Analyst. Hard to believe. But yes, I do know some friends working for such local institution who are getting around that. No joke. MNC don't really pay well if you're not coming in as middle / senior mgt and above.

Good luck to the girl trying to look for a 14k pay.

missironic said...

rm14k! My gosh! My eyes almost pop out when I look at the figure! hahaha....so i guess she din get the job huh...i wonder how the hell she can get paid rm11k+ in the first place. dun mind asking. how old is she?

Sharon said...

yea i was going to ask the same question as missironic... how old is she?
i even wonder how long it'll take for me to reach 10k...

zewt said...

taxy driver - the main culprit is becos... our currency sucks. and why our currency sucks?

leyaw - whose mentality? to a certain extent, there isnt much we can do. the only thing we can improve on is for us to start putting value in ourselves and demand more. we should not keep giving in.

"maemee" - so damn true. my company is employing so called top grade fresh grade, come in and attend overseas training and then their salary jump like nothing. but what have they produced? also not much.

erm - got vacancy ah? hahaha...

ueiying - it's obvious isnt it?

2x2 matrix - it's a combination of both her being highly paid and us being underpaid. having said that, perhaps her pay is what we all should be getting. from what i gather from my colleague, she sound like a top grade employee. but does that mean that we are not top grade here? i can assure you that we work as hard as her. it is just astonishing and the fact that HR says we are on par with market.. is just bullshit. why am i complaining and not moving to aust and UK? what makes u think i am not trying?

zewt said...

CK - i think whatever she is getting commenstruate with the current market condition and that should be what we accountants are worth. the malaysian market has exploited us for far too long.

wuching - if it's per year, we will hire her already.

myop101 - well, everyone seems to be doing budgeting now. cash is king... hold on to them if you have enough.

huei - well, if u really enjoy, then money doesnt count right? hahaha... the problem is... if your employer know you enjoy the work and u want the work becos of passion, they will squeeze u more.

purple mushroom - well, not too sure about the cock sucking part but from where she is coming from, it's not that surprising. i tell u which company later.

missironic - incredible leh... i u know more details, u will be pissed. she is below 30.

sharon - below 30. 10k... ok lah... :P

Anonymous said...

I find your replies and also this posting to be interesting. It opens a can of worms which would definitely involve a lot different points of views.

However, I don't really agree to your point that on who's a "top grade employee". I think it is very easy to identify that, there are various dimension where one can be judged on such as academic and professional experience, leadership achievements etc.

To shed some light on remuneration, large GLCs and MNCs here can afford to pay up to RM30-50k a month for middle managers (MBA+ 5 to 10 years exp). Such roles would have to be mission critical of course. When I say mission critical, I am referring to critical business decisions that can significantly shape the future of the company, namely the strategy or planning teams. Such talent is hard to come by and most often you need to compete globally for them. If you are paying them with local pay, do you think they want to stay in KL? BTw, I am referring to Malaysians.

Malaysia needs talent and companies (local and MNC) are willing to pay if they see talent.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wat to do..mayb ur good firm shud hav put there..expected salary range from a miserable amount to a pauper amount which ever angle u want to look at it..

then again u get half fark ppl coming in lor..

H.C. Tan said...

wah she below 30 also earning RM11.4k adi ar, if i were her sure stay put in the company.

big multinationals are the biggest bullies of all!!!

you are right the ones earning 5 digit income are those sitting in HQ or those lured to Malaysia (being an expat)...kesimpulannya those "berkulit putih" peeps. we are just cheap cheap cheap labour.

zewt ur this post makes me depressed lah. haha.

-=SiN=- said...

I believe whatever we're doing in life currently it comes down to opportunity and chances.

One either has it or don't simply as that. People in general regardless of brain size or brawn are just not paid to what they’re worth.

Least in this lifetime we might see a country going bust for a change, which would be really interesting.

sÞ¡ηηєє said...

our analyst in our bank only get paid 3-10k sgd, depending on rank/experience.

normally 8k and above are for directors.

a rm14k should be only given to directors too, isn't it? I would see it that way. it's like 15k usd for a bank director in US too... only senior financial analyst leh.

and yes, the longer u're in a company, u'll see more newbies coming in with higher and better pay package. it's very depressing & in fact, still have to teach that new colleague stuff and cover their asses. yet ur employer just dun wanna increase ur pay 'cuz u've started from a lower pay and it doesn't make sense for them to pay too high since u could do better with lower pay.

so moral of story: get a new job, work like a idiot, and get paid high.

i wish i could do it. but my professional ethnics and my character forbides me to be such a bitch.

missironic said...

Ya..starting to get pissed already. Below 30 already earning rm11k+ and asking for rm14k summore. she muz have lead a VERY GOOD life. hahaha...

Anonymous said...

You sure you dowan to come here ah? Very big pay wor. My bank officer tells me secretary oso can get RM10K. I'm sure 20-30K no problem for you.. :D

Huei said...

funny enough..that's wut my ex manager told me..don't put passion into your work!

i did la..i liked my previous co..relax je..but then look what happened..just close like that..no warning at all!

shhh..dun let my boss know i like this job now! =P

Zuraida said...

ooo...i feel sooooo underpaid!!!Damn it where the hell in earth did she find such ppl who are willing to pay that much?

zewt said...

2x2 matrix - well, when i say top grade, one should conclude that it is top grade based on interview performance. having said that, she getting paid RM11,400 does tell something. it can be that bad. i disgree on the light you shared for i fall within the category but i do not get RM30k a month, and i work in a very latge MNC. if local and MNCs are willing to pay, we will not have brain drain.

constantly craving joe - true... jules is in recruiment and she said... the quality of fresh grad now is really... unbelievable.

HC Tan - well, her company is the biggest local MNC around i would say. but i am still astonished at the level of salary she is paying based on her age and experience.

-=SIn=- - yes... all eyes on iceland now. very interesting i must say. i wonder if malaysia will follow suit.

sÞ¡ηηєє - RM15k here would be senior manager level. hhahahaha... well, i have a friend who always jump every 2 years and i think his pay didnt follow the same trend. ethics forbidding you? ethics is really something lacking nowdays... kudos to u.

missironic - absolutely... very good life. damn, at such young age too!

kat - hahaha... i know, all in USD right? can find a job for me then i sure go.

huei - what exactly are you doing actually?

Zuraida - well, hate to say it but amongst all of us here, you stand the highest chance getting into that company. make a guess.

missironic said...

i'm so jealous. i dun tink she needs to worry abt money at tis age with that kind of salary. sighs...

CSK said...

very interesting information, mate.

But you guys can be steady, engineers are the no better than you guys.

jlshyang said...

this is really depressing. i have no idea how long will it take for me to earn my first 10k! :(

lawyers in this country are underpaid as well.

Swee Ping said...

haih... talkin bout underpaid, i'm in the dilemma too.

zewt said...

missironic - well, depends lah... maybe she spends like crazy? that we dunno...

CSK - steady? not in this time of uncertainty...

jlshyang - basically... all the professionals in this country are. that's becos we are a 'developing country with loads of potential'.

swee ping - we all are... sigh....

Anonymous said...

that's really a BIG pay for a financial analyst!! it surely scared d hell out of d interviewer man....

and yr post on why 'they' all flock here is so enlightening to read...

zewt said...

jacss - hehehe... well, i am glad to enlighten ppl... i shall keep that coming.