Survey shows Singapore in bottom 10 of salary rise rankings
By Mok Fei Fei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 07 April 2009 1428 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Employees in Singapore will see some of the lowest pay rises this year compared to their counterparts in other countries.

A survey of 53 jurisdictions by London-based research company ECA International has placed Singapore in the bottom 10 of the salary rise rankings.

Singapore was in joint 43rd spot, along with France and Hong Kong. Salaries in these three places are expected to increase by two per cent this year.

Japan was the lowest-ranked, with half of the companies in the economy planning to freeze salaries.

A quarter of the world's companies and 40 per cent of those in the US plan to freeze salaries this year. But there are bright spots in other parts of the world.

Employees in Venezuela, Argentina and India can look forward to the most robust double-digit pay increases.

Globally, average salaries are likely to rise 4.7 per cent this year, down from a 6.2 per cent increase in 2008.

- CNA/yt