A person working as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia typically earns around 3,640 MYR. Salaries range from 1,750 MYR (lowest) to 5,720 MYR (highest).
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Administrative Assistant salaries in Malaysia vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Minimum Salary 1,750 MYR |
Median 3,420 MYR |
Maximum 5,720 MYR |
Salaries for the position Administrative Assistant in Malaysia range from 1,750 MYR (starting salary) to 5,720 MYR (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
With a median salary of 3,420 MYR, half of the professionals who work as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia earn less than 2,790 MYR, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 3,920 MYR while 25% earn more.
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Administrative Assistant in Malaysia compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 2,110 MYR to 3,000 MYR. About 20% of salaries are below the 2,110 MYR mark, while 10% fall within the range of 3,000 MYR to 3,400 MYR. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 3,400 MYR.
0 - 2 Years | 2,050 MYR | |
2 - 5 Years | +42% | 2,900 MYR |
5 - 10 Years | +31% | 3,810 MYR |
10 - 15 Years | +23% | 4,680 MYR |
15 - 20 Years | +6% | 4,980 MYR |
20+ Years | +10% | 5,460 MYR |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Administrative Assistant and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 2,050 MYR.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 2,900 MYR, 42% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 3,810 MYR, 31% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 4,680 MYR, 23% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 4,980 MYR, 6% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 5,460 MYR, 10% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
High School | 2,540 MYR | |
Certificate or Diploma | +47% | 3,730 MYR |
Bachelor's Degree | +34% | 5,000 MYR |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Administrative Assistant in order to make a comparison.
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 2,540 MYR.
At this level, the average salary becomes 3,730 MYR, 47% more than the previous level.
At this level, the average salary becomes 5,000 MYR, 34% more than the previous level.
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 6%.
Male | 3,550 MYR | |
Female | +7% | 3,790 MYR |
Individuals working as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 10% every 19 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 9% granted to employees every 17 months.
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
70% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 30% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 0% to 4% of their annual salary.
Received Bonus | 30% | |
No Bonus | 70% |
The most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
The main two types of jobs | |
Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Administrative Assistant in Malaysia is 10 MYR. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Job Title | Average Salary |
Administration / Reception / Secretarial | -100% | |
Accreditation Specialist | 7,520 MYR | +110% |
Admin Clerk | 2,350 MYR | -35% |
Admin Executive | 3,560 MYR | -2% |
Administrative Aide | 2,590 MYR | -29% |
Administrative Analyst | 5,000 MYR | +37% |
Administrative Assistant | 3,640 MYR | = |
Administrative Associate | 3,520 MYR | -3% |
Administrative Coordinator | 3,370 MYR | -7% |
Administrative Manager | 5,140 MYR | +41% |
Administrative Officer | 3,500 MYR | -4% |
Administrative Receptionist | 3,330 MYR | -9% |
Administrative Secretary | 2,910 MYR | -20% |
Administrative Specialist | 3,200 MYR | -12% |
Administrative Support | 3,060 MYR | -16% |
Administrative Technician | 2,690 MYR | -26% |
Board Secretary | 3,210 MYR | -12% |
Branch Office Administrator | 5,280 MYR | +45% |
Business Administrator | 5,250 MYR | +44% |
Business Office Manager | 8,610 MYR | +140% |
Central Office Operator | 3,200 MYR | -12% |
Clerical Assistant | 2,120 MYR | -42% |
Clerk | 2,300 MYR | -37% |
Commercial Administrator | 4,640 MYR | +27% |
Commissions Processor | 4,170 MYR | +15% |
Conveyancing Secretary | 2,910 MYR | -20% |
Corporate Receptionist | 3,260 MYR | -10% |
Creditors Clerk | 3,250 MYR | -11% |
Data Entry Clerk | 2,300 MYR | -37% |
Data Entry Specialist | 3,430 MYR | -6% |
Document Controller | 2,930 MYR | -20% |
Document Management Specialist | 4,080 MYR | +12% |
Executive Administrative Assistant | 3,950 MYR | +9% |
Executive Assistant | 3,610 MYR | -1% |
Executive Officer | 4,460 MYR | +23% |
Executive Personal Assistant | 4,430 MYR | +22% |
Executive Secretary | 3,740 MYR | +3% |
File Clerk | 2,370 MYR | -35% |
Front Desk Attendant | 3,140 MYR | -14% |
Front Desk Coordinator | 4,080 MYR | +12% |
Front Desk Manager | 5,200 MYR | +43% |
Front Desk Receptionist | 3,140 MYR | -14% |
Front Desk Shift Leader | 4,080 MYR | +12% |
Front Office Assistant | 3,120 MYR | -14% |
Front Office Executive | 4,000 MYR | +10% |
Group Services Manager | 8,920 MYR | +150% |
Head Receptionist | 3,820 MYR | +5% |
Inquiry and Admissions Clerk | 2,160 MYR | -41% |
Key Account Assistant | 3,900 MYR | +7% |
Keyboard and Data Entry Operator | 2,160 MYR | -41% |
Leasing Administrator | 4,330 MYR | +19% |
Legal Secretary | 3,400 MYR | -7% |
Librarian | 4,080 MYR | +12% |
Mail Processing Clerk | 2,000 MYR | -45% |
Mail Sorting Clerk | 1,980 MYR | -46% |
Mailroom Clerk | 2,060 MYR | -43% |
Mailroom Manager | 3,790 MYR | +4% |
Management Support Secretary | 3,400 MYR | -7% |
Master Programme Coordinator | 6,760 MYR | +86% |
Medical Receptionist | 3,490 MYR | -4% |
Meeting and Event Assistant | 3,950 MYR | +9% |
Meeting and Event Manager | 8,050 MYR | +120% |
Night Manager | 4,950 MYR | +36% |
Office Administrator | 5,250 MYR | +44% |
Office Assistant | 2,370 MYR | -35% |
Office Automation Clerk | 3,960 MYR | +9% |
Office Clerk | 2,560 MYR | -30% |
Office Coordinator | 3,330 MYR | -9% |
Office Manager | 5,970 MYR | +64% |
Office Services Coordinator | 4,590 MYR | +26% |
Office Supervisor | 4,090 MYR | +12% |
Operations Analyst | 6,860 MYR | +88% |
Operations Clerk | 3,900 MYR | +7% |
Operations Manager | 8,900 MYR | +140% |
Personal Assistant | 3,260 MYR | -10% |
Planning Assistant | 3,960 MYR | +9% |
Process Expert | 5,010 MYR | +38% |
Program Coordinator | 4,850 MYR | +33% |
Programme Assistant | 4,200 MYR | +15% |
Project Administrator | 5,720 MYR | +57% |
Project Coordinator | 7,130 MYR | +96% |
Query Administrator | 4,080 MYR | +12% |
Reception Team Lead | 4,210 MYR | +16% |
Receptionist | 3,260 MYR | -10% |
Records Officer | 2,800 MYR | -23% |
Registry Administrator | 3,430 MYR | -6% |
Registry and Filing Clerk | 2,350 MYR | -35% |
Rental Clerk | 2,300 MYR | -37% |
Schedule Officer | 2,300 MYR | -37% |
Scheduler | 2,400 MYR | -34% |
School Secretary | 3,260 MYR | -10% |
Secretary | 2,850 MYR | -22% |
Service Reception Head | 3,980 MYR | +9% |
Switchboard Operator | 2,880 MYR | -21% |
Technical Program Manager | 7,410 MYR | +100% |
Technical Project Manager | 7,940 MYR | +120% |
Typist | 2,560 MYR | -30% |
Unit Secretary | 3,030 MYR | -17% |
Wayleave Officer | 2,400 MYR | -34% |
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in Malaysia is 9% on average across all career fields.
Private Sector | 6,340 MYR | |
Public Sector | +9% | 6,900 MYR |
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 3,420 MYR and 3,920 MYR. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
The base salary for a careers like Administrative Assistant in Malaysia ranges from 1,750 MYR to 2,790 MYR. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary