The upcoming pay rise for civil servants to keep pace with market conditions is without doubt welcome news for current civil servants and jobseekers planning to join the civil service.
At ACHIEVE Group, we foresee this pay rise has the potential to spark a jobseeker’s market that could put pressure on private sector employers and which employers could respond to by engaging the workforce with the values and vision they embody.
As announced by the Public Service Division (PSD) on June 5, the pay rises ranging from 5 per cent to 14 per cent will be introduced with growth and development initiatives as well as flexible work arrangements to make careers in the civil service more attractive.
These initiatives are certainly very attractive to jobseekers looking for career transitions. The 2-over years of Covid-19 challenges have made flexible work arrangements the preferred choice of the majority of the Singapore workforce. In numerous surveys conducted in the last one year, workers have also cited mental well-being, values of the organisation and growth opportunities as major considerations in their career options.
In spelling out these adjustments, we envisage the PSD’s announcement to spark 2 reactions. Firstly, jobseekers who have been weighing career options in the civil service and private sector, will now be more inclined to the civil service, and this will inadvertently tilt the balance in an already tight labour market.
Along with this, jobseekers who prefer jobs in the private sector will now compare the employment terms of companies against the offerings of the civil service, and will be more forthcoming in asking for better pay packages, benefits and their preferred work arrangement.
This will then force private sector employers to re-look at their employment terms and offer more attractive packages to jobseekers. Such a chain reaction will have deep ramifications.
PRESSURE ON PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYERS
The more attractive employment packages needed to entice new hires will present deep challenges to private sector employers, particularly those with limited financial resources and are still coping with post-pandemic recovery.
Such employers are in the majority and many of them are already struggling to fill open positions. In addition to that, most of them have been dealing with wage adjustments that have been increasing by at least 15 per cent since 2021, and these are eating into already thin margins.
With the upcoming civil service pay rise, they may face more difficulties in hiring the talents they need and may even have to grapple with the prospect of staff quitting to join the civil service.
Adding to that, the need to further consider upward adjustments to their pay and benefits package, together with other career growth initiatives to retain staff and attract new hires, means that many companies will find it an uphill task to return to pre-covid profitability anytime soon.
However, this grim prospect presents a silver lining. We see this situation as an opportune moment for employers to forge a highly visible presence in the job market and engage the workforce vigorously with the culture they embody, the values they uphold, the ideals they stand for and the vision they are striving towards.
Thus, talents that come onboard these companies will find themselves in workplaces that complement their aspirations, and where their skills match the needs of the business and the packages offered commensurate with their needs.
Therefore, while civil service pay and benefits adjustments may cut employers and workers both ways, opportunities still abound to utilise these adjustments in creating a more attractive job market that will result in a more talent-centric environment for private sector employers and jobseekers alike.
ACHIEVE Group can help businesses and jobseekers in navigating the hiring scene by providing timely advisories and customised search and selection solutions that include permanent staffing, contract staffing and payroll outsourcing arrangements tailored to specific business and operational needs.
A recruitment consultancy in the Asia Pacific for over 30 years, ACHIEVE Group is a Human Capital Partner (HCP) and Singapore Prestige Brand Award (SPBA) winner, recognised for commitment to progressive employment practices and business transformation.
For any queries on hiring programmes, staffing arrangements or happenings in the job market, please reach out to us at enquiries.sg@achievegroup.asia or 63230050.