There are those who've suffered pay cuts after pay cuts, and there are those who've completely lost their source of income.

Those who still have jobs have seen their salaries getting lower and lower, a recent survey revealed.

Worrying trends

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) has recently revealed that a majority of Malaysians received a lower salary in 2020 compared to the year before, Malay Mail reported.

DoSM's 2020 Salaries & Wages Survey Report revealed that they recorded a decline in both mean and median salaries in 2020, the first time it has happened since 2010.

The median monthly salaries recorded a double-digit decline of 15.6 per cent to RM2,062, while the mean monthly salaries received by Malaysians declined by nine per cent to RM2,933.

In 2019, the median monthly salaries stood at RM2,442 while the mean salaries were RM3,224.

With the drop in median monthly wages, DoSM said that the amount of RM2,062 have fallen to salary levels about four or five years ago at RM2,000 (2016) or RM2,160 (2017).

Drops across the board

To make things slightly more worrying, the decline in mean and median salaries were recorded across the board, irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, urban or rural locations, state, education levels or highest certificate obtained, skill level, and in almost all industries.

However, the only age group that was not affected was 40 to 44, as their wages went up from RM2,996 (2019) to RM3,028 (2020), making them the highest in terms of amount in 2020.

Employees in the15 to 19 age group, meanwhile, recorded the lowest median monthly salary at RM1,211.

The Department has atttributed the decline to an uneven momentum following a health crisis and economic consequences.

DoSM added that the same scenario has also been experienced by other countries.