Is 1 in 13 full-time workers still earning below $1,200 something to be proud of? 

I refer to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Report on Wage Practices 2017 released on 30 May.

It states that “More establishments raised their employee’s wages in 2017 (65%) compared to 2016 (58%). The proportion of establishments that cut total wages fell, from 17% in 2016 to 12% in 2017. As a result, the proportion of employees who received a wage increase also rose from 75% to 78%. The average wage increase for this group of employees was higher in 2017 (5.1%) compared to 2016 (4.9%). The proportion of employees who received wage cuts decreased from 13% in 2016 to 10% in 2017. The average wage cut for them was lower in 2017 (-3.9%) compared to 2016 (-5.0%).”

So, does it mean that the proportion of employees who had a wage cut or no wage increase was 22% (10% cuts and 12% no change)?

As to “62% of establishments with low-wage employees earning a monthly basic wage of up to $1,200 granted wage increases to these employees in 2017, up from 40% in 20161 . Among establishments with outsourced employees earning up to $1,200, 55% granted wage increases to these workers. The remaining 45% of establishments did not grant wage increments as they were constrained by contractual agreements, felt they were already paying market rates, or were not performing well” – isn’t it bad enough to earn less than $1,200 – and yet the proportion of establishments that did not grant any wage increase was 38% and 45% for employees and contract workers, respectively.

Also, why is there no mention of the statistics as to the proportion of employees (not just establishments) who had no wage increase – since these statistics are given for employees (including  low-wage employees) in the same subject report?

Don’t you find it sad and rather alarming that “the proportion of full-time resident employees (excluding part-time workers) earning a basic monthly wage of up to $1,200 (2017/2018’s recommended threshold) is estimated to have decreased from 8.1% in 2016 to 7.7% in 2017” – that about 1 in 13 full-time employed residents are still earning below $1,200 in the most expensive city in the world for the fifth consecutive year, according to The Economist?

To what extent is “The basic wage increase for low-wage employees (8.9%) and outsourced low-wage workers (7.5%) continued to be higher than all rank-and-file workers in these establishments (5.4%)” – due to the change from “For employees earning up to $1,100 in basic wage in 2016” to “For employees earning up to $1,200 in basic wage in 2017”?

With regard to “The proportion of profitable establishments continued to decline from 76% in 2016 to 75% in 2017. However, the pace of decline has slowed compared to the previous three years” – why has the proportion of  profitable establishments continued to decline, since economic growth increased from 2.4% in 2016 to 3.6% in 2017?

Why is it that the proportion of profitable establishments has been gradually declining from 85.1% in 2010 to 75% in 2017?

Also, why is it that the proportion of establishments with incurred losses has also been increasing gradually from 15.1% in 2007 to 25.1% in 2017?

Similarly, the employee coverage of profitable establishments has also been declining gradually from 90.6% in 2007 to 87.1% in 2017.

Since “Bonus payments were 2.14 months of basic wage in 2017, compared with 2.16 months in 2016” – to what extent (if any) did longer work hours (if any) or longer/higher overtime pay (if any), contribute to the total wage increase?

Leong Sze Hian