The prospect of Malaysian businesses increasing the salaries of employees this year, is positive.

According to the International Business Report (IBR) by Grant Thornton, 63 per cent of Malaysian companies planned to increase salaries, compared to the 44 per cent recorded last year.

The percentage of companies not prepared for any pay rise also saw a positive outlook, with 30 per cent against the 36 per cent, last year.

"While the majority of businesses globally are more optimistic for 2010, employees would be wrong to think the worst is over.

"When asked about employee salaries in the year ahead, 7,400 Medium to Large Enterprises (MLEs) across 36 economies, indicated they were even less likely to give a pay rise during 2010 than last year.

"Thirty-six per cent of businesses plan to offer no pay rise or reduce pay globally, compared to the 24 per cent in 2009," the report released in Kuala Lumpur today, stated.

On increasing the workforce, 29 of the 36 economies surveyed, expect to increase staff numbers in 2010.

The report also said the most optimistic businesses were in Vietnam, Brazil, Botswana, Australia and India.

"Positioned at 14th place on the chart, four per cent of business owners in Malaysia are expected to increase staff numbers in 2010, compared to 20 per cent last year. This is a 16 percentage points decrease.

"It is a negative point, compared to business owners in neighbouring countries such as Vietnam with an increase of 54 per cent, the Philippines with a 29 per cent increase, and Singapore with a 13 per cent growth in terms of the number of employees," the report noted.

IBR also showcased as to how creative businesses became, as they tried to avoid compulsory redundancies of permanent staff in 2009.

Grant Thornton International is one of the world's leading organisation of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms.

The IBR is an annual survey of the views of senior executives in privately held businesses all over the world.

- Bernama