Singapore Workers Can Expect Conservative Pay Rises This Year: Report

30 May 2013

Singapore workers can expect only conservative pay rises this year and the forecast is less optimistic for 2014, said global management consultancy Hay Group.

Hay Group released its report "Building the Capabilities of the Next Generation Workforce" on Wednesday.

The report is based on a March 2013 survey, covering over 190 Singapore-based local and foreign-owned companies from both the private and public sectors.

They were polled on their business sentiments, and salary and bonus projections for the next 12 months.

The average salary increase for 2013 is 4.7 per cent. For 2014, the forecast is 4.4 per cent.

According to the report, the top sectors with the highest average salary increases in 2013 are Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals and Services (5.7 per cent), Utilities (5.3 per cent), and Oil & Gas (5.1 per cent).

In 2014, the forecast average salary increase is 5.2 per cent for Life Sciences/Pharmaceutical, 5.1 per cent for Services, and 5.0 per cent for Insurance.

Hay Group's regional general manager for productized services, Victor Chan said, "Organisations are feeling the need to manage business cost in a slower economic environment this year and a substantial part of operating business in Singapore is managing the cost of employment."

He said managing the cost of employment was one top business priority for 24 per cent of organisations surveyed.

The actual average variable bonus for 2013 (performance-based bonuses excluding annual wage supplement, contractual bonuses) is 2.3 months for a 12-month period. The forecast for 2014 is 2.3 months.

The report showed that the top employee groups in high demand are junior professionals at 35 per cent, middle management at 34 per cent, and clerical/operations at 25 per cent.

Those who have specialised knowledge or industry-specific technical skills such as engineering will continue to command a higher market differential compared to jobs such as customer service and marketing.

Eighty-eight per cent of companies surveyed said they practise re-employment of eligible employees who turn 62.

However in the past 12 months, 40 per cent of the companies surveyed said they did not offer re-employment contracts.

Twenty-seven per cent of companies surveyed offered re-employment to more than 75 per cent of their retiring employees.

Twenty-eight per cent of the companies surveyed said less than 10 per cent of retiring employees were re-employed.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore-workers-can-expect-conservativ/691216.html