Millennials are also the unhappiest generation with their pay, with their salary happiness rate at 54%, lower than Gen Z at 61% and Gen X at 60%
MANILA, Philippines – About 6 in 10 Filipino workers are happy with their salaries, while nearly half say what they earn still falls short of what they need to maintain their standard of living.
A Jobstreet by SEEK survey found that 59% of employed Filipinos were satisfied with their salaries, while 45% said their pay was below their standard-of-living needs.
Oddly enough, this is despite most workers thinking their employers are paying them fairly. Eight in 10 respondents said they felt fairly or well paid for the work they do, one of the highest rates in the Asia-Pacific region.
That disconnect suggests workers may see their salaries as reasonable relative to their jobs or the broader market, while still finding that those salaries don’t go far enough in this economy. Among workers who described their pay as simply “fair” or “about right,” only 44% were actually satisfied with it.
Jobstreet said workers also judge compensation against their workload, contribution, and whether their income can support the life they want outside work.
“The gap between fair pay and salary satisfaction shows that compensation is only one part of the employee experience,” Jobstreet Philippines managing director Dannah Majarocon said. She said employers should pair competitive salaries with recognition, clearer career paths, and more open conversations about growth.
Across generations, Millennials were the unhappiest with their pay. Their salary happiness rate stood at 54%, lower than Gen Z’s 61% and Gen X’s 60%. Around 54% of Millenials said their salaries were below what they needed for their standard of living, while 27% reported receiving a meager pay increase (less than 2% over the past year). Millennials were also the generation most open to taking on side hustles to close the gap.
There were sharp differences by industry as well. Technology and construction workers were the most likely to say they were well paid, at 54% and 50%, respectively, and also posted the highest salary happiness rates at 69% and 65%. Industrial workers were at the other end, with 58% saying their salaries fell below their cost-of-living needs.
Employers have a reason to pay attention to salary satisfaction too. Workers happy with their salaries were 2.2 times more likely to say they were motivated to go above and beyond at work. Those unhappy with their salaries were 2.9 times more likely to be thinking about changing jobs.
The findings came from an online survey of 1,009 employed Filipinos aged 18 to 64 conducted in February 2026, with respondents recruited to be nationally representative by age and gender. – Rappler.com
