Private sector wages rise in 2014, but rate of growth slows

Total wages in the private sector rose in 2014, but the rate of growth was slower than the year before, the Manpower Ministry revealed on Thursday (Jun 4). 

Total wages, which include employer CPF contributions, went up by 4.9 per cent in 2014, but it was slower than 2013's 5.3 per cent. As inflation eased, real total wages, including employer CPF contributions, rose at a faster pace of 3.9 per cent in 2014, compared with 2013's 2.9 per cent, the press release said.

In terms of giving wages increases to employees earning a monthly basic salary of up to S$1,000, 59 per cent of private companies gave or intended to give i 2014. This was lower than the 77 per cent in 2013, and the 60 per cent in 2012. 

The number of full-time resident employees earning a basic wage of up to S$1,000 is estimated to have decreased from 9.8 per cent in 2012 to 6.8 per cent in 2014, since the introduction of the National Wages Council (NWC) quantitative guidelines in 2012, it stated. 

Of the remaining private establishments that did not grant wage increases, about half (20 per cent) indicated that they were already paying market wage, while others indicated that their business was not doing well and the impact on business or wage costs, the release added.

Among low-wage employees who earn a basic monthly salary of up to S$1,000 who were given the built-in wage increase last year, their basic wage increase averaged 14.2 per cent - higher than the 8.4 per cent received by all rank-and-file employees, MOM said. 

Additionally, more companies were seen implementing the tripartite wage restructuring recommendations since their release in January 2004. For instance, 89 per cent of employees in the private sector are under some form of flexible wage system in 2014 - the highest since June 2004, the data showed. 

Having a narrow maximum-minimum salary ratio remained the most common wage recommendation adopted, with two in three, or 66 per cent, private sector employees working in such establishments in December 2014.