I was an BA/Associate/EM in one of the MBBs a few years back, but was in the UK / US office.

In terms of salary:
I applied to the KL office for fun when I was considering to go home in 2021... and got 2 MBB KL offers, and another top tier consulting firm offer awhile ago.
The positions I got were at manager level, and my GF also got an associate lvl offer in one of the MBBs so I can benchmark:
1) For associates, the KL salaries offered were similar-ish to what US / UK consultants get paid (if you ignore FX movements over the past 5-10 years or so); so, I can at least tell you this, the offers we got were significantly above RM10k+, and I heard it has increased since...
2) The sign-on bonuses were almost identical (e.g. every £/$ we got as a sign on bonus, we were offered +-RM6/4), in fact, after tax, the amount was more in Malaysia.
It was also a good amount, let's just say, it'll be enough for you to pay for a brand new, decent car in cash.
3) At Manager level, it becomes tricky... in US / UK, the tax gets high at this income bracket... I think your post tax take home pay in KL be higher than in US / UK at this level.
4) Partner level: I don't have first hand experience but I heard it's global profit sharing... at least while I was there.
So, generally, when MBB consultants want to make the quickest bucks, they tend to move to lower tax / lower cost cities like in the ME, Singapore, and SEA...

In terms of job security:
While I was there... I did not get the feeling that my colleages were worried to be let go... (of course it's a bit different now), they were all super high calibre ppl...
Ofcourse there were high KPIs to meet, but most of us hit the targets...
The reason why many leave after +-2 years is because they get better offers / want to try different things (again, highly driven individuals... not necesarily chasing for $$$); moreoever, MBB encourages their employees to do that... they tend to offer 'come back any time if you change your mind' when you resign... So, it makes it very easy for ppl to jump / try new things...
Ultimately, the experience we get outside will benefit the firms in 2 ways:
1) We might turn into clients
2) We learn things and return to the firms
Moreover, it costs a lot for them to interview and hire new ppl since it's difficult to find candidates of the right fit, so why not let ppl leave on a positive note?

Caveat:
The KL offices might have slightly different cultures... and, imo, very different strengths / mindset consultants...

I hope this answers your question.

p.s. We turned down all 4 offers... So I can't tell you much about working in MBB KL...

This post has been edited by Consultant92: Apr 26 2024, 11:06 PM

Only front office roles.