Asia’s procurement and supply talent market is characterised by high demand for both talent and skills, where people move jobs either for more money or greater career progression.
For most regions in our survey, the biggest recruitment challenges cited are a lack of skills and a lack of available candidates. However, for Asia, the biggest recruitment challenge is budget constraints.
Asia’s procurement and supply salary market is also notable for its proportion of employees who say they’ve received a pay rise in the last 12 months, which is higher here than elsewhere in the world.
Please note: Our survey sample for Asia this year mostly focuses on those with lower base salaries. Roughly 70% of this year’s sample respondents were those at delivering and managing competency levels, with delivering level professionals accounting for approximately 36% of the sample.
Salaries, bonuses and benefits
The average salary for procurement and supply roles in Asia this year is $52,810 and the average reported salary increase is 8.0%.
74% of respondents in Asia say they received a salary increase in the last 12 months.
Those at a leading competency level in Asia with MCIPS earn on average 4.1% more than those without MCIPS.
The proportion of respondents eligible for bonuses in this region is 69%. Our survey shows eligibility for bonuses generally increases with the seniority of an individual’s role. For comparison, those at an influencing competency level were 69% likely to have been eligible for a bonus in the past year vs 59% of people at a delivering competency level.
73% of employers in the region say bonuses are calculated and awarded based on whole company targets; 69% by personal targets; and 39% by team targets.
However, employees in the region would rather have their bonuses calculated and awarded based on personal targets (80%), rather than whole company targets (63%).
The top three benefits offered by employers in Asia are private medical insurance (56%), working from home (42%) and provision of a work mobile phone (42%).
Skills
While soft skills are still rated as important in this region, technical skills are seen to be of greater importance. Procurement and supply professionals in the region say the top five skills are negotiation (58%), supplier relationship management (36%), sourcing (34%), communication (33%) and contract management (27%). Perception of the importance of soft skills varies by job level, with those at influencing and leading competency levels rating them differently to those at managing or delivering competency levels. For example, negotiation is ranked higher by those at delivering level (68%) than those at influencing level (38%). Overall, procurement and supply professionals should maintain a balance of soft and technical skills and be proficient in both.
Negotiation is the most in-demand skill for employers in this region (50%).
Job moves
More people in this region (46%) expect to move to a new employer in the next six to 12 months.
The top factors driving people to consider a new job are salary (77%) and career progression (75%).
Employees in the region say their top reason for staying in their current role is a lack of opportunity (25%).