[Duncan]

I am considering a position in HK and I would like to get a better knowledge of typical salaries to bring to the negotiating table.

My Background:
I am 25 years old. I have a degree in Economics and respectable grades/experiences from a university consistently ranked in the top-3 of American undergraduate educational institutions. I moved to Bangkok, Thailand after my graduation to work as a 'Management Trainee / Associate" for one of the biggest companies in the world. For the past year and a half, I have gained a wide range of experience in Marketing, Product Development, Financial Planning, and Strategic Planning. I am now considering moving to Hong Kong with the same company to undergo a one-year rotation in Internal Audit, splitting my time with four different offices in Hong Kong and Taipei.

Salary?
In the past year, my salary was seemingly low at about US$22,000 per year, made slightly sweeter with a one-time US$10,000 bonus. If I were to remain here, I have reason to believe that my base salary would rise to about US$31,000, with the possibility of another bonus. That being said, a website called homefair.com estimates that the cost-of-living in HK is about 1.86 times higher than that in Bangkok, which actually seems a little low considering my experience spending oodles of money on a short-trip to Hong Kong a year ago. Regardless, if the 1.86 conversion holds water, then that would mean I should perhaps be making about US$58,000 in Hong Kong. I'm not sure if this factors in taxation variance between the two countries, though. I only pay about 12% income tax in Thailand and I believe that would rise as well in moving to HK.

My Main Questions:
1. Given my background and present situation, what do you think would be a reasonable salary band to be within for the proposed internal audit position in Hong Kong?

2. Is the 1.86 factor a reasonable yardstick to gauge the cost-of-living differential between Bangkok and Hong Kong? (for reference, homefair.com says that Hong Kong is about 95% as expensive as New York City, whereas Bangkok is only 53% as expensive as New York City. I would recommend checking the link out yourself to compare the cities you are most familiar with: http://www.homefair.com/homefair/ser...199&internal=T)

3. I am afraid that the offer I get is only going to be US$40,000, based on the experience of a colleague who preceded me. Would such a figure be fair in this situation? How do US$40,000 per year and US$58,000 per year compare in Hong Kong from a lifestyle perspective, in your opinion?

Any help you may be able to offer would be tremendously appreciated. If I do make it to HK later this year, I would be happy to buy you a drink or two.

Thanks.

[KnowItAll]

The problem is most of these calculations don't work for junior positions.

US$ 40K/year is decent for many internal auditors. The accountants in Hong Kong have been taking a beating recently with many jobs moving to China.

The 1.86 (spoken like an accountant for sure!) or 2 factor is true. HK is expensive.

>> the experience of a colleague who preceded me.

Did they think their salary was enough to maintain their lifestyle / save some money?

[tex]

your biggest expense here i would think will be rent. look at the threads on this site regarding rents for a single person, probably sharing a place. once you have an idea of what you might pay, you can easily figure out the rest. since you are from nyc and so am i, i can tell you that from what i've seen entertainment/dining are about 5-10% less than nyc, taxis are like 50% less, mass transport is 50% less, clothing can be the same or 60% less depending on your preferences, groceries i'd say are close to the same (i used to do a combo of shopping at fairway and eli's for special items and the gristedes type supermarkets for everything else and i do the same here). what else? taxes.

[Duncan]

Knowitall -

I had the chance to speak with said colleague last night who informed me he was actually paid about US$37,000 for his year doing similar work in Hong Kong, plus a US$8,000 12 month completion bonus, bringing his total remuneration to US$45,000. This seems slightly more appropriate, but I am still hung-up on the 1.86 or 2 factor that you mention. If this is true, then US$45,000 would seem like somewhat of a demotion to me, and I might as well either stay in Thailand, or move back to the US where I know I can make at least US$55,000 in New York, pre-bonus.

In any case, do you (or does anyone else) know of a good website similar to homefair.com that can give another opinion on cost of living adjustments between such different locations as Bangkok and Hong Kong? If such a website also factored in different kinds of job descriptions and correlating wages -- all the better.

Thank you so much for your response.

- D

[JJexpat]

Cautionary note...cost of living is a result of many factors. Homefair indicates that if I earn my current salary in HK, I need to earn well over 300k / year in Victoria, BC to enjoy the equivalent standard of living. I don't think so ;-) Maybe true if just starting out and one has no property? Or maybe there are other variables? Grain of salt needed.

Nonetheless, I suspect about 60k US would be a good HK amount if you like going out much and plan to pay around 15k HKD/month for a flat.

Good luck...
JJ