Compensation packages at the executive-level are rising in Asia driven by a growing talent shortage, according to one expert.
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Christine Greybe, President of private executive search firm DHR International, tells CNBC that China and India have shown the highest growth in compensation with senior executives demanding as much as 30 percent more than in their previous jobs.
"It's a boom market, so there's more opportunities then there are candidates that are perfect," says Greybe. "I think compensation is being driven by demand — the demand is outstripping the supply."
Greybe says she received 30 new senior level searches from just one energy company in India over a two-year period.
And it’s not just demand. Greybe argues that as the Asian businesses of foreign multinationals have grown from being a small slice of overall global revenues to something much more substantial, the requirements have changed.
"So suddenly you’re needing more senior people, the businesses are larger, the demands are greater," she says. "As a result there just isn't enough talent that's experienced and available. So people can command greater compensation and it's driving numbers up."
According to DHR International’s research, compensation packages in the banking sector jumped 25 percent in Asia in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier.
"In 2010 you saw the demand increasing, and you saw salaries climbing, but 2011 is where you see the more extensive demands come out," says DHR’s Greybe.
Despite the boom, Greybe says she's surprised that only 30 percent of all the candidates they speak to in the U.S. and Europe are interested in moving to Asia for senior global roles.
"I would have thought that candidates are much more open and willing to relocate and even when we have really great positions with appropriate compensation," she says. "We still can't get some of these people to consider it."