According to recruiting experts Hays, a significant 31 per cent of workers in Singapore plan to change employers within six months. 40 per cent are already on the hunt for a new job. The 2018 Hays Asia Salary Guide showed nearly half of all candidates surveyed in Singapore plan to change employers within the year and 43 per cent are currently open to an offer.
“Our Guide is an excellent indicator of generational change amongst Singapore’s workforce. Salary and benefits remain a key driver for job hunters, but we are seeing candidates place greater value on non-financial benefits too,” said Lynne Roeder, Managing Director of Hays in Singapore. “A total of 59 per cent of candidates told us that ‘salary and benefits’ was the top reason for accepting a new role, but this is a drop on our previous survey when 71 per cent of respondents cited this reason,” said Lynne. A ‘desire to seek new challenges’ was the second most common reason (48 per cent) followed by ‘career progression’ (46 per cent).”
Professional development a way to future proof your career
“In a continuing trend, career development remains important to candidates but 24 per cent say there is no scope for ‘career progression’ with their current employer and 34 per cent are unsure about what’s available. This makes the case for employers to communicate career pathway options more clearly as well as what responsibilities lie with employees themselves,” said Lynne. “For our 2018 Salary Guide, we added a new question asking candidates if they think their current skill set will be in demand in five years’ time. Most candidates said ‘yes’ (66 per cent), yet 35 per cent also told us they spend no personal time on professional development and 32 per cent spend as little as an hour or so a week.”
“Our research points to the need for employers to foster greater self sufficiency amongst employees when it comes to professional development. The importance of this issue is underscored by the fact 94 per cent of employers in Singapore responding to the 2018 Salary Guide believe skill shortages have the potential to hamper effective business operations over the coming year.” “However, the most important message is for talent who want to stand out from the pack. Staying relevant in a fast-changing employment market is the responsibility of every candidate in Singapore and should be their top priority for 2018,” said Lynne.
Salary expectations
Of the candidates surveyed, 54 per cent are unhappy with their ‘compensation & benefits’ package while 46 per cent are happy. Despite this, a massive 64 per cent did not ask for a pay rise in the last year. A further 17 per cent asked but were not successful while 19 per cent asked and received a pay bump. In 2018, the largest proportion of respondents (36 per cent) expects a pay rise of more than six per cent. Another 30 per cent expect an increase from between 3 to 6 per cent, 23 per cent expect an increase of up to three per cent and 11 per cent expect no salary increase over the coming year. During their last review, eight per cent of candidates did not receive a pay rise but 13 per cent received a bump of more than six per cent. Most candidates (46 per cent) received a pay rise from between 3 to 6 per cent, while 33 per cent were awarded up to a three per cent increase.
This year in Singapore, nearly half of employers (49 per cent) plan to award increases of between 3 to 6 per cent while another 32 per cent expect to increase salaries by up to three per cent only. 14 per cent plan to award salary increases of more than six per cent while five per cent will offer no salary increase.
Other key candidate findings from our survey include:
• 42 per cent regard their current balance as “good” and a further 18 per cent as “very good”.
• 25 per cent rate their work-life balance as “average”, 10 per cent as “poor” and five per cent as “very poor”.
• 64 per cent of candidates are willing to relocate for a job (up on the previous year’s 63 per cent).
• 61 per cent believe their performance is fairly evaluated by their employer while 39 per cent do not.
Source: Hays
