Recent survey conducted by Hays revealed that nearly half of employers in Singapore are planning to take a conservative line on salaries despite increasingly robust economy in the country.

Managing Director of Hays in Singapore, Lynne Roeder said that while the 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide shows that while most companies are taking a conservative approach to salary increases for the most part, they are more than willing to give well above the average when hiring talents with niche skills in the areas of skill shortage. For example, those with specialised skills in some areas of sales, IT and accountancy and finance will receive substantial salary increases owing to the skill shortages in the sector.

In the press release on Tuesday (Feb 27), most employers (46 percent) awarded salary increases from between 3 to 6 percent for employees during their last review period. Another 13 percent offered more than 6 percent, 33 percent employers increased salaries by up to 3 percent, while 8 percent gave no salary rises at all.

Looking ahead, 49 percent employers say they will stick to the salary hike of 3 to 6 percent in their next review, while 14 percent plans to give more than 6 percent. Some 32 percent employers plan increases of up to 3 percent, and 5 percent will offer no salary increases at all.

According to Lynne, it is crucial for employers to communicate about the process behind salary increases with the staff, especially if the economy continues to show the strong improvements because it will create the perception that there should be more budget for salary increases.

The survey showed that while 54 percent candidates are unhappy with their current level of compensation, 64 percent did not ask for a pay rise during their last review. About 1 in 3 candidates in Singapore (36 percent) expect a pay rise of more than 6 percent, while the other 30 percent expect a salary increase of between 3 to 6 percent.

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Involving more than 3,000 employers in Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia, the survey found that employers in China are the most generous when it comes to salary increases with more than half (51 percent) are planning wage hikes of more than 6 percent this year.

The survey also includes recruiting trends such as employee benefits. The majority of Singaporean employers (89 percent) award staff benefits against the average 83 percent reported for all five markets surveyed. Health/medical benefits remain the most popular benefit offered for employees (93 percent), followed by car/car allowance (43 percent) and life assurance for workers (36 percent).

Besides the salary increases, employers in Singapore also plans to award bonuses for the employees this in 2018. 53 percent sets to provide bonuses to more than 50 percent of staff, suggesting a 5 percent decrease from the figure reported last year. Most respondents said that the bonuses would be given based on individual performance (89 percent), followed by company performance (87 percent) and team performance (32 percent).

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