Companies hand out cash, beef up perks to help staff cushion against inflation

TO HELP employees cope with the rising cost of living, some Singapore companies are providing cash allowances, one-off payouts or improved staff benefits.

Real estate group Far East Organization, for example, has been giving a monthly special cash allowance to eligible staff members, tiered according to their base salary. Those with lower base salaries get larger allowances.

The scheme was initially meant to run from Jun 1 last year till Mar 31 this year, but has been extended till the year’s end “to cover increases in essential spending with the rising cost of living”, said executive director Jodie Choo, group head of human resources, IT and administration. Far East Organization did not provide details of the payout amounts.

Among companies giving one-time payouts is Mapletree Investments. Its “inflation support payment” goes out next month to staff across the company’s 13 markets to “alleviate inflationary impacts felt by our employees, particularly mid- to junior-level employees”, said a spokesperson. No amounts were specified.

In January, Keppel Corporation gave an unspecified one-off “cost-of-living subsidy” to junior staff. It also enhanced its flexible benefits programme for junior to mid-level staff.

Such one-off allowances are not common among Singapore companies, but there has been greater pressure to keep up with inflation in other ways.

Insurer Prudential did not give cost-of-living payments to staff in Singapore, but did so for its junior employees in the United Kingdom.

Prudential Singapore has, however, improved medical and outpatient benefits such as dental consultations, outpatient specialist treatments and overseas outpatient visits; it also expanded outpatient specialist coverage to include alternative treatments such as osteopathy, homoeopathy and Ayurveda treatments.

“These enhancements ensure that all our employees can receive the necessary treatment without having to worry about costs,” said Prudential Singapore’s chief human resources officer Neetha Nair.

This was in addition to wage adjustments during this year’s annual increment exercise “to match inflation and market competitiveness to support employee groups who are more affected by rising costs”, she said.

PwC Singapore said it has “consciously recalibrated” its salary grid up in the last two years, “as part of the transformation of the profession”. A spokesperson for the professional services firm said the adjustment “also in part serves to help our workforce adjust to the rising cost of living”.

Local bank UOB said its remuneration packages are regularly reviewed to stay competitive, including its yearly increments, which “cater for macroeconomic conditions such as inflation”.

It also updated its existing enhanced staff housing loan early this year. This long-standing benefit for full-time staff offers lower-than-market rates.

“The response has been very positive, with take-up rate increasing almost 25 per cent by March, just three months after it was launched,” said Dean Tong, head of group human resources at the bank.

Real wage growth was 0.4 per cent in 2022, as decade-high nominal wage growth of 6.5 per cent was eroded by high inflation, going by Ministry of Manpower figures.

This was down from real wage growth of 1.6 per cent in 2021, 1.4 per cent in 2020, and 3.3 in 2019.

Audrey Tan, head of health and benefits in Singapore at Willis Tower Watson, said: “Cost pressure is not just felt by employers, but also employees who are spending more and seeing slower income growth. Hence, it is not surprising to see some organisations offering additional support in the form of one-off payments to provide some short-term financial relief.”

According to the advisory, broking and solutions company’s 2023 Benefits Trends Survey, concerns about rising costs were the second most important factor influencing organisations’ employee benefits strategies, after competition for talent. The global survey of 5,233 employers included 111 employers in Singapore.

When companies provide one-off payments or temporary special allowances, however, the intent needs to be clearly articulated to their staff to ensure that expectations are aligned, said Tan.

She added: “While companies might see such arrangements as a one-off or temporary, some employees might have different views on the level and duration of support needed.”

Terence Ho, associate professor in practice at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said: “One-off payments should not be a substitute for fair and sustainable salary increments, which are needed to help employees cope with rising living costs over the longer term.

“There should be adequate attention to skills development and career progression as the basis for higher wages over time.”

With additional reporting by Bernadette Toh