46 percent of employers in Singapore expect to award salary increases of between three and six percent during their next salary review, according to recruiting experts Hays.
The annual Hays Asia Salary Guide, now in its tenth year, highlights salary and recruiting trends in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The guide draws on research from more than 3,000 employers representing six million employees.
During their last review period, 52 percent of employers in Singapore awarded increases of between three and six per cent.
“Singapore is a resourceful nation, but the economic outlook for 2017 is challenging so it’s not surprising to see employers taking a moderate approach to salaries,” says Lynne Roeder, Managing Director of Hays Singapore.
Other salary related findings from the 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide showed that 8 percent of employers in Singapore expect to award increases from between six percent and ten percent; 3 percent plan to award over ten percent, 34 percent will look to award up to three percent and 9 percent will award no increase.
In terms of intended salary increases across the region, Hong Kong (49 percent) and Malaysia (46 percent) will offer between three and six percent, China (45 percent) will increase from between six and ten percent with Japan (60 percent) offering up to three percent increase. Singaporean employees have ambitious salary expectations.
20 percent of respondents expect to receive an increase from six to ten percent during their next review, while a further 14 percent will be expecting an increase of more than ten percent. With only 3 percent of employers intending to award more than ten percent, respondents would be advised to readjust their salary expectations.
“Respondents in Singapore wanting a salary increase above what employers are planning to award are advised to do their homework and know why their performance merits a larger increase,” Lynne added.
See: Digital Shift: Employers in Singapore and APAC Grapple with Talent Acquisition and Retention
“Candidates also need to keep up with economic news, as well as keeping abreast of market conditions to ensure their expectations are managed accordingly.”
13 percent of employees in Singapore are not expecting a pay rise at all, with 29 percent expecting an increase from between three to six per cent and 25 percent up to three percent.
Benefits
In Singapore, 93 percent of employers offer staff benefits in addition to salary/bonus. Most commonly provided is health/medical benefits (91 percent), car/car allowance (41 percent), life assurance (37 percent), housing allowance (20 percent) and pension (15 percent).
Across all countries, 85 percent of employers provide staff benefits in addition to salary and bonuses. Health/medical remains the most commonly offered benefit (79 percent of employers) followed by life assurance (40 percent), a car/car allowance (34 percent) pension (31 percent), housing allowance (26 percent), club or gym membership (16 percent), other (16 percent), hardship allowance (10 percent), children’s education (8 percent), tax equalisation (6 percent) and private expenses (5 percent).
Bonuses
In the coming year, 66 percent of employers in Singapore intend to award bonuses to all employees, and 25 percent to only some employees.
Of the employers in Singapore paying bonuses, 42 percent expect bonuses to be worth from eleven percent to fifty percent of staff salary; 31 percent up to ten percent of staff salary and 14 percent from 51 percent to 99 percent of staff salary. Another 13 percent of employers in Singapore expect to pay bonuses worth one hundred percent of staff salary.
Across all countries in the region, bonuses were most commonly related to company performance (88 percent) or individual performance (84 percent). Only 10 percent of staff bonuses were guaranteed. A further 34 percent of bonuses were related to team performance and a small two percent to hours billed.
Also read: Skills Shortages Continue to Worry Employers in Singapore in 2017
Feature image credit: freedigitalphotos.net
