December has been a month of expansion in manufacturing, based on the Purchasing Manager’s Indexes for China, India, South Korea and Taiwan. What implications would that mean for your workforce management?

The HRBS Executive News brings you concrete facts and sound insights on the current Asia Pacific economic as well as C&B/HR market situation. Our latest issue provides you the following six hot topics:

• Strong 2010 Pay Rise and Bonus Outlook in Asia
• Don't be a Casualty of the Upswing! Protect Your Talents Now!
• How Much Are HR Managers Paid in Asia?
• Expat Housing in Asia – A Need or a Costly Perk
• Being Tax Smart in China
• Keeping Knowledge Workers – A Post-Crisis Nightmare?

(1) Strong 2010 Pay Rise and Bonus Outlook in Asia

With a much improved business sentiment that has started to show upswing in the second half of 2009, employers are more generous in pay increase and bonus budget for 2010. But, are you budgeting correctly especially when it comes to pay rise for 2010?

This article compares pay increase and bonus trends for 2010 based on surveys conducted in July and Nov 2009 respectively and provides actual and forecast figures across industries and organization hierarchy traversing the Asia Pacific countries.

(2) Don't be a Casualty of the Upswing! Protect Your Talents Now!

The global financial crisis is declared over. However, uncertainty still lies ahead as recovery is very much government-funded. While cautious optimism is the general mood, employers are confounded by the market swings for people resources as they face the problems of retention and hiring.

This article examines the impact of the economic revival on the psyche of companies and employees, discusses how it is shaping the Asia Pacific employment landscape in 2010, supported by latest data reflecting the trends ahead.

(3) How Much Are HR Managers Paid in Asia?

People are key drivers of business, and talents are always highly sought after. HR managers are traditionally the custodian of people resources. An effective HR manager can contribute immensely to the acquisition, development and retention of people. HR Managers can therefore be paid handsomely, especially in the Asian market where rapid economic growth has led to a continuous talent war.

Backed by solid market data, this article reviews the compensation of the HR function in Asia Pacific and offers a glimpse of pay premiums among different types and scopes of HR positions for locals and expatriates respectively.

(4) Expat Housing in Asia – A Need or a Costly Perk?

Housing benefit provided to expatriates is among the most expensive perquisite components in an expatriate package. To arrive at a housing benefit quantum that is reasonable to the employee and cost-effective to the employer, a host of factors need to be considered.

This article discusses expatriate housing costs considerations and trends, and their impact on expatriate housing benefit in Asia.

(5) Being Tax Smart in China!

The Individual Income Tax (IIT) system has also gone through a series of reforms but China still remains one of the high-tax regimes. To maximize tax-effectiveness for local employees and expatriates, it is important for HR professionals to stay abreast of the updates in income tax regulations and work smart within legal boundaries.

This article discusses the latest developments in China’s IIT and highlights areas that HR professionals should pay attention to in constructing a tax-effective compensation package.

(6) Keeping Knowledge Workers – A Post-Crisis Nightmare?

As the market is predicted for a strong upswing, the threat of losing your best and brightest cannot be more real. Your elite knowledge workers, especially, can walk away to your competitor, armed with proprietary knowledge of your business, accumulated empirical experience and valuable problem solving skills. How can you retain your knowledge workers for the year of 2010? This article takes a keen look into the knowledge economy and how you may best engage and retain your knowledge workers.

“Executive News” is an exclusive quarterly publication by HRBS and circulated to paid subscribers only. This 20-page newsletter renders up-to-date, timely & reliable information across Asia Pacific. For subscription, please email inquiry@hrbsasia.com or reach us at Hong Kong (852) 2524-2008 or Singapore (65) 6725-8288. Thank you.