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Archive officer salary in Malaysia

Gaji Pegawai ArkibGaji Penolong Pegawai Arkib

What the federal public service pays new archive officers at each entry level under the 2026 pay scale, with the allowances set by the JPA circular.

MalaysiaSSPA pay scale · Budget 2026DOSM Salaries & WagesRM per monthUpdated 29 Oct 2026
Government pay scaleBasic pay range / month
Entry, diplomaAssistant archive officer, S5RM1,650–6,620Entry, degreeArchive officer, S9RM2,250–11,110PromotionGrade 10RM3,840–12,150SeniorGrade 12RM5,530–13,540SeniorGrade 14RM6,560–15,360
Minimum to maximum basicScale RM0 to RM16kSSPA pay scale, Budget 2026
Starting basicRM2,470RM29,640 a yearS9, bachelor's degree with honoursSee the pay breakdown →With allowancesRM3,370RM40,440 a yearBasic plus RM900 fixed allowances, Kuala LumpurSee the pay breakdown →With a diplomaRM1,893RM22,716 a yearS5, RM2,703 with allowancesSee every entry level →Top of grade 9RM11,110RM133,320 a yearMaximum basic at S9See the pay scale →
At a glance

Archive officer salary in Malaysia

What the job is: Archivists and curators collect, appraise and ensure the safekeeping and preservation of the contents of archives, artefacts and records of historical, cultural, administrative and artistic interest, and of art and other objects. ILO ISCO-08, 2621 Archivists and Curators

  • Archive officer (Pegawai Arkib, S9): RM2,470 basic a month (bachelor's degree with honours).
  • With fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur: RM3,370 a month at S9.
  • Assistant archive officer (S5): RM1,650 basic, RM2,460 with allowances.
  • Pay scale: grade 9 runs from RM2,250 to RM11,110, rising RM225 a year.

What a new archive officer earns

An archive officer at S9 starts on RM2,470 basic, plus RM900 in fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur: RM3,370 a month.

Grade S9, from the SPA service scheme and the JPA allowance circular. The starting point depends on the qualification.

Qualification or pay itemGrade S9RM a month
Bachelor's degree with honoursStarting basic2,470
Fixed allowances, Kawasan AHousing (ITP) RM300, public service (ITKA) RM300, cost of living (BISH) RM300900
Total fixed pay at the start, bachelor's degree with honoursBasic plus fixed allowances, Kawasan A3,370

Sources: SPA scheme page for grade S9; JPA Pekeliling Perkhidmatan 1/2024, Lampiran E. BISH is lower outside Kawasan A. Totals computed by Foundific.

What it means
  • A year at the start: RM3,370 × 12 = RM40,440.
  • Allowances counted here are the fixed ones in the JPA circular. Any allowance tied to a particular post is not included.
  • Route to archive officer (S9): serving assistant archive officers may be considered for appointment at S9 when a post is vacant and they meet the scheme conditions.

How to become an archive officer

Archive officers enter at S5 and S9, depending on the qualification.

Entry levelQualificationStarting basic, RMWith allowances, RM
Assistant archive officer (Penolong Pegawai Arkib, S5)STPM, STAM or matriculation1,6502,460
Assistant archive officer (Penolong Pegawai Arkib, S5)Diploma in a related field1,8932,703
Archive officer (Pegawai Arkib, S9)Bachelor's degree with honours2,4703,370

Source: SPA scheme pages. Allowances from the JPA circular, Kawasan A: S5 RM810, S9 RM900. Totals computed by Foundific.

What it means
  • Bahasa Melayu: appointment from outside the service needs a credit in Bahasa Melayu at SPM or SVM. The SPA pages list no such condition for serving officers moving up.

How pay grows on the government scale

Grade 9 pay rises RM225 a year, from RM2,250 up to RM11,110. Promotion to a higher grade moves an officer onto a higher range.

Minimum and maximum monthly basic salary for each SSPA grade, 2026.

GradeWhoMinimumMaximumYearly increment
5Assistant archive officer, entry with a diploma1,6506,620145
9Archive officer, entry with a degree2,25011,110225
10Promotion grade3,84012,150250
12Promotion grade5,53013,540270
14Promotion grade6,56015,360320

Source: Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 establishment list, Lampiran A: SSPA salary codes and minimum-maximum salaries (page A-1). Basic salary only.

What it means

Pay after 5, 10 and 20 years

Starting at RM2,470 at grade 9, with the RM225 yearly increment and no promotion. The grade maximum, RM11,110, is reached after about 38 years.

Years in gradeBasic, RM a monthWith fixed allowances, RM a monthFixed pay, RM a year
At the start2,4703,37040,440
After 5 years3,5954,49553,940
After 10 years4,7205,62067,440
After 20 years6,9707,87094,440

Foundific calculation from the Budget 2026 SSPA scale, with fixed allowances at the Kawasan A rate, which do not rise with increments. Promotion, special payments and allowance changes are not included.

Compared with Malaysian pay overall

A new archive officer's fixed pay, RM3,370, is above the RM2,940 median for Malaysian citizens. The public administration and defence median, RM4,483, covers workers of all grades and years.

FigureSourceRM a month
New archive officer, S9, basic plus fixed allowances, Kuala LumpurSPA and JPA, 20263,370
Median salary, public administration and defenceDOSM, 20244,483
Median salary, all Malaysian citizensDOSM, 20252,940
Median salary, employed degree holders of all agesDOSM, 20245,724
  • Industry median covers all employees in the industry.
  • DOSM figures cover all paid employees and all ages. The government figure is one fixed pay point. Use them to show scale only.
  • Compare your own pay with this scale, the DOSM figures and court awards in the Malaysia salary comparison.

Archive officers outside government

The data used here does not cover archive officer pay outside government.

  • DOSM publishes salaries by state, industry, occupation group and skill level, but not by job title.
  • Private surveys and job ads use different measures and samples, so their figures are not mixed into the tables here.

Data sources and coverage

The official data gives starting pay, the pay scale and fixed allowances for archive officers. It does not cover private-sector pay for the job.

SourceWhat it givesStrength
SPA service schemes S5, S9Starting basic pay by qualificationStrong: official and current
Budget 2026, SSPA pay scaleMinimum, maximum and yearly increment for every gradeStrong: official and current
JPA SSPA circular, Lampiran EFixed allowances by grade and areaStrong: official
DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey 2024 and 2025Industry and national mediansWeak for one job title
  • A payslip shows basic plus allowances plus any shift, on-call or overtime pay, so it can be higher than the fixed figures here.

Is archive officer work affected by AI?

The International Labour Organization puts archivists and curators in its “Moderate” group for exposure to generative AI. Its scores cover the job worldwide, so they apply in Malaysia too.

Based on the International Labour Organization's 2025 index, which scores every core task of a job from 0 (AI cannot help) to 1 (AI could do nearly all of it).

Archive officer
ModerateAI exposure
Not exposedVery high

AI can speed up a fair share of the work, so the job is likely to change.

  • Most exposed taskPlanning and implementing the computerized management of…
  • Least exposed taskOrganizing, developing and maintaining collections of…
  • In numbersAI could do a large part of 4 of its 10 main tasks.
Archive officerISCO 2621
Moderateexposure to generative AI
  1. Not exposed
  2. Minimal
  3. Some
  4. Moderate
  5. High
  6. Very high

Scored as ILO group 2621 Archivists and curators. Average task score 0.47, higher than 85% of the 427 jobs the ILO scored.

Seven factors
FactorArchive officer
1Exposure levelModerate
2Average task score0.47 higher than 85% of jobs
3Tasks AI could do much of4 of 10
4Hands-on or people tasks0 of 10
5How even the exposure isMixed (0.11)
6Most exposed taskPlanning and implementing the computerized management of… 0.67
7Least exposed taskOrganizing, developing and maintaining collections of… 0.32
Most and least exposed tasks
Archive officer
Most exposed tasks
  • 0.67Planning and implementing the computerized management of archives and…
  • 0.58Evaluating and preserving records for administrative, historical, legal…
  • 0.55Directing or carrying out the preparation of indexes, bibliographies…
Least exposed tasks
  • 0.32Organizing, developing and maintaining collections of artistic, cultural…
  • 0.34Directing or undertaking classification and cataloguing of museum and art…
  • 0.35Organizing exhibitions at museums and art galleries, publicizing exhibits and…

What each factor means · How this job compares with the other salary guides

Source: ILO Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (Gmyrek et al., 2025), CC BY 4.0. Malaysian jobs are matched to ILO groups by their ISCO-08 code; MASCO follows ISCO-08 at four digits. The ILO scores international job groups, not Malaysian titles. How we read the AI scores.
What it means
  • Exposure measures how much of the work AI could do or speed up. It does not measure job cuts.

What the pay figures include

Every figure is monthly basic pay or fixed allowances, before deductions.

MeasureIncludesExcludes
Basic salaryGaji pokok on the SSPA scaleAllowances, shift, on-call and overtime pay, special payments
Fixed allowancesITP, BISH, ITKA or ITK, and BIPK as advertised for the postShift, on-call and overtime pay
DOSM salaryMonthly salaries and wages of paid employeesSelf-employed and unpaid family workers

Questions

What is the archive officer salary in Malaysia?

A new government archive officer starts on RM2,470 basic a month (S9, bachelor's degree with honours). With fixed allowances in Kuala Lumpur the total is RM3,370 a month, in 2026.

What is the archive officer salary per year in Malaysia?

RM3,370 a month is RM40,440 a year in fixed pay, before any shift, on-call or overtime pay and before the special payments the government announces each year.

How does a government archive officer's pay grow with years in service?

On the yearly increment alone, basic pay at grade 9 rises RM225 a year: from RM2,470 to about RM3,595 after 5 years and RM4,720 after 10, before any promotion. Foundific calculation from the Budget 2026 scale.

What is the highest archive officer salary in government?

Grade 9 runs from RM2,250 to RM11,110 in basic pay. Promotion can lead to grade 14, with a maximum basic of RM15,360 a month (Budget 2026).

How much does an archive officer earn in a private company?

The data used here does not cover archive officer pay outside government.

What is the difference between S5 and S9 for archive officers?

S5 (assistant archive officer) starts at RM1,650 with STPM, STAM or matriculation and RM1,893 with a diploma. S9 (archive officer) starts at RM2,470 with an honours degree. The S9 scale runs to RM11,110, against RM6,620 at S5.

Where do these figures come from?

Starting pay is from the SPA service scheme pages, the pay scale from the Budget 2026 establishment list, and allowances from the JPA SSPA circular. Private-sector context is from DOSM and Industrial Court awards.

MalaysiaMalaysia salary overviewPay by state, sector and skill MalaysiaLibrarian salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,470 starting basic MalaysiaInformation officer salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,250 starting basic MalaysiaPTD officer salary in MalaysiaGovernment grades, starting pay and allowancesRM2,580 starting basic

Sources

SPA service schemes, Ministry of Finance Budget 2026, JPA SSPA circular, DOSM
  1. Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam, Syarat Permohonan: Penolong Pegawai Arkib Gred S5.
  2. Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam, Syarat Permohonan: Pegawai Arkib Gred S9.
  3. Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 establishment list, Lampiran A. SSPA minimum-maximum salaries, page A-1.
  4. JPA, Pekeliling Perkhidmatan Bil. 1/2024 (SSPA), Lampiran E: ITP, ITKA and BISH by grade and area.
  5. DOSM, Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2025 and the 2024 report.