Tripartite partners – Government, Employers and Unions – have sat together at the discussion table every year since 1972 to deliberate and put up recommendations on the wages of workers.
This year was no different for the National Wages Council (NWC), which convened earlier in April and May to formulate wage guidelines for the period between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020. The guidelines were announced on 30 May 2019.
The focus this year is on the access to training for all workers. NWC also emphasised that wage increases should commensurate with employers’ performance, firms’ productivity gains and employees’ contribution.
The economy grew by 3.1 per cent with healthy productivity gains of 2.4 per cent in 2018. The labour market conditions also improved, with the country seeing a rise in employment and a fall in unemployment and retrenchment numbers.
According to the Council, most workers work in companies that have some form of a flexible wage system. This allows employers to adjust wage costs responsively and sustainably while remaining competitive.
Last year also saw both real basic wage and real total wage growing faster than in 2017. It also grew more than productivity.
The Council had also said that it considered the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s forecast of slower growth in 2019 in making the recommendations.
NWC once again affirmed its position that wage growth must be supported by productivity growth, based on transformation and training of the workforce.
Even though training participation rate of the resident workforce had increased from 2011 to 2018, employers can still do more to help their workers upskill, said NWC.
The proportion of employers that provided structured training for their workers has still not improved in the last 10 years, and the number of workers who are benefiting from training at training-provider establishments had mainly remained the same at the same period – about 56 to 57 per cent.
The Council also noted that the number of employers who provide structured training for their workers was lower in some sectors than others, especially among smaller companies.
Taking into consideration the current state of the economy, the NWC made these recommendations.
So what can workers look forward to if their bosses adopt the guidelines?
Here they are at a glance:
Commenting on the guidelines, NTUC President Mary Liew said: “The NWC guidelines will support our workers in their transformation to take on current and future workplace challenges. To do so, employers must help their workforce skill up and move up. We encourage more companies to work with the Labour Movement to set up Company Training Committees (CTCs) that will identify the training and skills that workers in the company require and develop the necessary training programmes to help them keep up with industry transformation.”
In its media statement, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said that the lack of necessary specialised skills among applicants was the main reason employers cite for being unable to fill professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) positions.
“To address this, both employers and workers must take training seriously. SNEF urges employers to offer structured training for their employees to upskill and reskill their existing employees to support their business transformation. Employers can seek assistance from their association to develop a training plan. They can also work with NTUC to set up CTCs to intensify their training efforts.
“Workers must also be willing to undertake training as well as upgrade themselves through the many schemes available. With higher productivity achieved through better skills, workers can look forward to sustainable wage increases,” said SNEF.
