Wages up 4.5% in 2006, fastest rate in six years
By Foo Siew Shyan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 June 2007 1658 hrs
SINGAPORE: Wages increased by 4.5 per cent last year - the fastest rate in six years.
According to a report by the Manpower Ministry, the salary hike was buoyed by a tighter job market.
However, wages of lower-skilled workers were dragged down by globalisation, thus moderating the pay hike.
Of the 4.5 per cent wage increase, 3.6 per cent came from basic wage gain.
The rest was an increase in bonus payout to 2.18 months last year, up from 2.06 months in 2005.
Professionals, managers and executives in junior and senior management saw their salaries go up by 5.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent.
That is up significantly from the 4.8 to 4.9 per cent pay hike they had in 2005.
But for rank-and-file workers, their salary increase remained unchanged at 3.9 per cent last year.
Jobs requiring professional and specialised training continued to command higher pay. Such jobs fetch a median starting pay of S$2,000.
The starting pay for occupations such as cleaners and labourers, that require lower entry skills, was S$600.
All major industries also gave higher pay increases than a year ago.
The financial services, and transport and storage industries were one of the top paymasters, while those in the hotel and construction sectors are among the lowest paid. - CNA/yy
think it is solely referring to civil service, quasi organisations under gahmen!