How much pay to request?

[Herngju]

I took a temp job in HK for a few months. Now my company is trying to get me to stay long term. They asked me to name a salary, so they can try to come up with the money. I want to push the envelop, but not be unreasonable.

Pay varies with industries, so is there a good percentage difference to shoot for when comparing U.S. and HK pay? So for every dollar you make in the U.S., how much more should you shoot for here?

[HKChigger]

I took a temp job in HK for a few months. Now my company is trying to get me to stay long term. They asked me to name a salary, so they can try to come up with the money. I want to push the envelop, but not be unreasonable.

Pay varies with industries, so is there a good percentage difference to shoot for when comparing U.S. and HK pay? So for every dollar you make in the U.S., how much more should you shoot for here?

I think your pay should be based on your role/duties and qualifications. I don't think there is a standard adjustment. Don't you think it would be better to post your qualifications, experience and your position so people can suggest a fair HKD pay for you?

[PDLM]

What makes you think it should be more? Tax is much lower here (albeit accommodation is more expensive). People often end up moving for less money.

[Morrison]

I have posted a similar question yesterday evening here

http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/26/thread169877.html

[MovingIn07]

You are better off trying to find out what other people in HK who have similar skills and do similar work to you earn - which means we'd need to know your industry, level, responsibilities etc. And will only then give some useful info if some of us here know that!

[dipper]

Your situation doesn't seem to have much to do with international comparisons. The reason for the discussion is because your company is trying to persuade you to stay. It's about how much they want you, not anything to do with differences in living costs, which, depending how you measure them you could argue are higher, lower or about the same.

In reality this is always the case really, but particularly obviously so here.

[eggmonster]

You should ask them what is their budget for the role then go from there

[penguinsix]

You can ask for a salary that is comparable to what you would make elsewhere or what others would make, but I think the biggest debating point would be what level of support would they give you for housing, travel, etc. Are they willing to come up with a package to help offset the higher cost of housing and need for occasional travel back to your home country? You can effectively argue that the exact same salary isn't necessarily "fair" given that you have all your worldly possessions in another country and have to move them over (which they should pay for) to a place that is likely more expensive than where you were prior.

I think your should do two calculations--one on your salary, what you make/what folks make here, etc, and a second on what your realistic budget is going to be here (and then compare it to your budget back home). Use some of these figures as a starting point for your negotiations.

[AIP]

My colleague has just gone through something similar. We talked about it a lot before she went into the negotiations. She worked out the figure that would be worthwhile for her based on a variety of factors - how much would she need to have the standard of living that she would enjoy back home on her current salary, how much would she earn for comparative jobs elsewhere in HK, what did the job offer in terms of non monetary benefit eg development opps, work life balance. She came up with a figure that would make it worthwhile staying

(Unfortunately in this case they weren't willing to pay it and she has now accepted a job elsewhere that better meets her expectations)

[thejae]

How much do you help the company earn? minus various bills, minus misc expenses, minus a small share to investors, the rest is yours.