Increase in salaries for lower-wage workers

Employees with gross monthly salaries of up to $2000 should get a 4.5 percent to 7.5 percent increase in wages between $70- $90, according to the National Wages Council (NWC) in Late October. This is in line with the progressive wage growth model which applies from Dec 1 2021 to Nov 30 next year. Approximately one-fifth of full-time workers here fall under the lower-wage workers' group in sectors such as security and cleaning services. This is to ensure that their salaries grow faster than the median wage level to ensure sustained wage growth.

Pay-cuts to be rolled-back 

The first priority for companies that have recovered or are recovering should be to roll back any wages that were cut previously due to the pandemic. The fixed-age component should be restored first, followed by variable wage components such as the monthly variable component and the annual variable component. Subsequently, companies should also restore wage-related cost-saving measures such as shorter workweek, temporary layoffs, and no pay leave. For companies that are doing well, NWC advised that they should grant built-in wage increases and variable payments to be commensurate with business performance, prospects and productivity growth, and employees’ contributions. Cuts in allowances and other discretionary cost-saving measures should also be rolled back.

Transforming jobs and upskilling workers

NWC is encouraging employers to work with the labour movement to establish company training committees to boost in-house workplace learning capabilities so that their staff can keep up with the pace of business transformation. This is in response to the drop in training provided for staff in 2020  from 79.1 percent (2019) to 65.4 percent. Jobs redesign and upskilling employees for new roles within the company is also an important move, especially for those who may be made redundant in the near future.

What do you think of the above recommendations made by NWC? Do you agree that it is important to upskill and redesign jobs in addition to increased pay for bottom earners?