More firms willing to hike wages next year

MANILA, Philippines — Average salary hike across industries is projected to be higher in Philippines compared to other economies in the region next year as the country’s stable economic growth is prompting more companies to pay more, a new report by global human resources consulting firm Mercer showed.

Mercer’s Global Compensation Planning Report and Total Remuneration Survey revealed that overall salary increase across industries in the Philippines is seen at 6.3 percent for next year.

The projected increase is higher than that of Thailand (5.3 percent), Malaysia (5.2 percent), Korea (4.4 percent), Hong Kong (3.9 percent), Singapore (3.9 percent), Taiwan (3.6 percent) and Japan (2.1 percent).  

In the Philippines, companies in the fast-moving consumer goods, energy and life sciences sectors are reported to be more aggressive, forecasting 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent salary increase.

“Mature industries such as energy, consumer and pharmaceutical tend to pay more compared to emerging industries such as the shared services and business process outsourcing,” Mercer said.

The Philippine market is also bullish on hiring, the report indicated, with 47 percent of the companies surveyed planning to add headcount in the next 12 months as skills shortage continues to be acute across all levels of career.

Mercer said there remains a mismatch between the skills employees possess and skills demanded by employers in the country as the current educational and technical infrastructure is not producing enough “ready for work” employees.

Jobs that are difficult to recruit and retain are sales, finance, and IT positions at both professional and management levels, the report showed.

“The diversity of employees in the workplace in the Philippines is increasing rapidly and resulting in multi-generational workforce in organizations. We are also noticing year-over-year increase in the number of employees on local plus packages especially in the IT and BPO industries. Given the different needs and aspirations of all these employee groups, organizations should be changing their approach to creating employee value proposition,” said Floriza Molon, Philippines career business leader at Mercer.

The report further revealed that Filipino employees have a high level of satisfaction when it comes to their work.

However, it said the high level of satisfaction does not translate into commitment to stay longer in their jobs as Filipino workers want to be recognized and rewarded for a wide range of contributions.

On the other hand, they leave because of pay, opportunity for promotion, and flexible work options.

“Overall, apart from compensation and benefits, it is also important take a more holistically view from a total rewards perspective and to have a successful employee value proposition that not just addresses immediate retention needs but also the future talent attraction and retention plans.  Innovative employee benefits are also key in helping employers differentiate and brand themselves as employees feel valued when employers take care of them and their families,” Molon said.