Two separate surveys – by human resource consulting firms ECA International and Towers Watson – found that companies here are likely to give employees an average salary increase of 4.5 per cent next year.
However, despite the positive outlook, ECA International says real wage increases will be lower than in 2013.
“Employees in Singapore are likely to feel worse off next year,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director-Asia of ECA International.
“Projected salary increases after inflation will amount to 1.8 per cent in 2014. This is down from the 2.2 per cent real wage increases that employees in Singapore are currently experiencing.”
But the bright spot is that Asia as a whole is the region where employees will see the highest real-wage increases. After inflation, wages there will rise approximately 3.2 per cent. The average is just 1.8 per cent.
Here is the full statement from ECA International:
For the third year in a row, employees in Singapore can expect to see their salaries increase by an average of 4.5 per cent. This is according to the latest Salary Trends survey by ECA International, the world’s leading provider of knowledge, information and technology for the management and assignment of employees around the world. However, with inflation expected to rise next year their real wage increases will be lower than in 2013.
“Employees in Singapore are likely to feel worse off next year,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia, ECA International. “Projected salary increases after inflation will amount to 1.8 per cent in 2014. This is down from the 2.2 per cent real wage increases that employees in Singapore are currently experiencing.”
Despite the low figures for Singapore, Asia as a whole is the region where employees will see the highest real-wage increases. After inflation, wages there will rise approximately 3.2 per cent. The average is just 1.8 per cent.
ECA’s 2013/2014 Salary Trends Survey reports on current and projected salary increases for local employees. The data is used by companies to monitor pay rises in both the home and host locations of their expatriate staff so that they can update pay packages according to the salary systems they use – and ensure that system is still the most effective for meeting business objectives.
This year, it is based on information collected from 316 multinational companies across 64 countries and regions. 129 companies provided data on their Singapore-based staff.
Regional highlights
Companies in Hong Kong are also anticipating 4.5 per cent salary increases next year. However, after inflation employees there are likely to receive just 1 per cent increases in real terms – some of lowest observed in the survey and smaller than those anticipated for Singapore.
Employees in mainland China look set to experience some of the highest wage rises in the region, both before and after inflation is factored in. Companies there predict salary increases of 8 per cent. Allowing for inflation of 3 per cent in 2014, Chinese workers will see a 5 per cent increase in real terms – the highest in Asia and among the highest worldwide.
“The on-going need to attract and retain skilled workers who are in short supply in China, is driving up wage increments there to among the highest levels in our survey. Over time, this trend may significantly narrow the traditional salary gap between China and Singapore,” said Quane.
“Our recent global research on buying power around the world also suggested that Chinese executives could even be better off than their United States counterparts by 2017 if the current trends continue. At present, salaries in China are increasing at more than double the pace of salaries in the United States.”
Companies in Pakistan are forecasting 13 per cent salary hikes for their staff next year – the highest in Asia. Even with predicted inflation of 8 per cent, employees there are also set to receive the second-highest ‘real’ increases in Asia after China.
Workers in Japan will continue to experience the region’s lowest wage increases. If inflation rises to the 2.9 per cent predicted by the IMF for 2014, they could experience a reduction in their buying power next year.
Global markets
Wages will rise almost 6 per cent in 2014 on average according to company forecasts from around the globe, with most employers setting increases at the same or very similar levels to this year. Asia and Latin America are the regions that will see the highest wage increases, with companies there forecasting rises of approximately 10 per cent, and 11 per cent respectively. However, inflation in those regions is also expected to be higher. In Latin America, for example, increases after inflation will average 1 per cent – the lowest globally.
Once again, the survey’s highest pay rises are being forecast by companies in Venezuela.
Employers there are predicting 26 per cent pay rises for staff next year on average. However, that figure trails well behind inflation forecasts: the IMF is predicting 38 per cent inflation in Venezuela next year, leaving employees there facing a spending power reduction of 12 per cent in real terms.
Companies in Switzerland and Greece are forecasting the lowest wage increases in the survey. Employees there can expect salary rises of around 2 per cent. However, despite these low increases little, if any, of this is likely to be eroded by inflation in contrast to many of their peers who will be worse off than them in real terms.
In both the US and Canada, companies are predicting 3 per cent wage increases, while Europeans can look forward to 3.5 per cent salary rises next year. Companies in Australia are forecasting 4% increases for their staff in 2014 while employees in the Middle East are set to see an average uplift of 4.8 per cent.
Factoring in inflation, employees in Asia are likely to receive the biggest average increases in real terms.
source: business.asiaone.com
