Posted by
momi
16 yrs ago
Hi, my friend is coming to work in Hong Kong from Japan. He is on a monthly salary of about 80k. How much should someone on this salary ask for housing allowance? He has yet agreed on a sum with his company. Will appreciate any reply. Thanks.
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Housing allowance is typically more dependent on position and family situation than actual salary. Many expats in HK have a higher housing allowance than salary.
If he is single, I would say 20-50 per month is a good range.
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momi
16 yrs ago
he is human resources manager for the asia region (is 80k a reasonable salary?) Yes, single.
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Not to be sarcastic here but with his job I think he should be the one to know if it is a reasonable salary. ;) Depends on the size of the company and the industry I guess.
Certainly it's not chopped liver by any means. With a decent housing allowance he could have a very good life here.
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momi
16 yrs ago
haha i know. thats what i told him too! shouldnt he be the one who decides how much everybody should get?! but he said thats not the case with his company - the headquarters in Europe decides.
I agree he could have a very good life here --- but he said if other expats get housing, he should get it too. and the funny thing is, people in his HQS dont seem to consider him an expat as they sort of think Japan = China.
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momi
16 yrs ago
"he is HR manager for the region & is asking what housing he should get!?!?! I think with his level of knowledge then he should jump at anything offered."
Like i said, his hqs decides.
I am just trying to help him by asking a question here.
I agree 80k is very good but you get what the market offers you.
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"but he said if other expats get housing, he should get it too. "
Well, many do but on the other hand many don't. It depends on how the employer structures it. Also, many firms will give a housing allowance for the first couple of years, then require the employee to either go local or go home. There are endless permutations. Many employees who have gone local still have paid schooling for kids.
In the end, the net money in hand is what counts. If the rent is paid through higher salary, lower taxes (an important factor in HK) or through an earmarked allowance is not that important.
"people in his HQS dont seem to consider him an expat as they sort of think Japan = China."
Hehe. An endemic problem. Same with US firms which consider UK = Italy and such.
More seriously, the important thing for him is to get hold of cost of living figures. Living in HK is expensive compared to most other places. He needs to have hard facts to back up his allowance requirement.
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momi
16 yrs ago
axptguy38
yes expats in his company do get housing allowance, thats why he wants the same.
anyway, thanks for the advice. I will let him know.
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what is the company industry and size?
if he is asia manager of a European bank, then 80k look like a very small salary to me. I guess he doesn't work for a bank, but a bit more info on industry and size would help.
on a 80k package and single, i think 25-40k sounds about right. with family (i.e. need more bedrooms), that would be more like 35-55k.
the other question is how his package was determined. was it explicitly a local contract, or did they do a tax neutral conversion from his japan salary? this are all factors to consider.
i would get less fussed about the treatment of colleagues that about being net positive after the move (i.e. net after housing and taxes).
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"More seriously, the important thing for him is to get hold of cost of living figures. Living in HK is expensive compared to most other places"
he comes from Japan so I don't think cost of living is more expensive compared to HK - even including housing :)
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momi
16 yrs ago
no, doesnt work for a bank. his company is global but is not doing v well at the moment.
ok, just checked, he is making 1200000 Yen per month.
"the other question is how his package was determined. was it explicitly a local contract, or did they do a tax neutral conversion from his japan salary? this are all factors to consider."
... I don't know... All i know is he got 10% pay rise after the promotion ...
thanks
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hold on:
1.2m yen
- tax (assumed 35%)
- housing assume 1/3
= 400k/month which is about HKD 35k
HKD 80k
- tax (assumed 15%)
- housing (assumed 35k)
= HKD 33k
depending on the japan assumptions and the HK housing assumption, his 80k in HK do look about right to net him out. however most companies will make sure you are not worse off so they add something to the local salary to equalize the salary between countries.
i think your friend has a good case for a housing allowance or HKD salary increase. in fact if housing allowance is not coming forward, the easiest thing to do might be to ask the company to convert the 1.2m yen straight into HKD (~100k) and live with that
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"however most companies will make sure you are not worse off so they add something to the local salary to equalize the salary between countries. "
Quite right. Also note that moving between countries is quite costly. Many companies pay out a one time lump sum beyond the cost of moving, to cover everything from the expense of selling a car to buying new appliances to take-out food if you have no utensils.
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"if he is asia manager of a European bank, then 80k look like a very small salary to me",
how much should it be if he does work for a bank and how much would his housing allowance increase to?
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Well, he is Asia HR manager, not "Asia Manager".
Depends on the bank, and on what you mean by "manager". Manager can mean that he manages a team of 3 people and is at the lowest officer rank in a firm with a small presence in Asia. It can also mean that he is at the highest officer level and managing all of APAC for a large investment bank. In the earlier case, he's doing ok with 80k monthly and 20k housing. In the latter, you're talking hundreds of thousands a month, 150-200k housing allowance (or monetary equivalent), and 1m+ in yearly bonus.
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