One-time Wage Adjustment for Civil Servants to Offset Anticipated High Core Inflation Rate in 2022
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Ang Wei Neng’s inquiry on whether the Public Service Division will consider a one-time wage adjustment for civil servants to offset 2022’s high core inflation. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing responded that the combination of recent salary reviews, annual increments, and Annual Variable Component payments already exceeds the inflation rate for officers meeting performance criteria. He explained that the Government reviews salaries periodically to keep pace with market benchmarks and provides supplementary relief through measures like Cost-of-Living Special Payments and CDC Vouchers. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing also highlighted that the National Wages Council has issued recommendations for the private sector to support workers according to economic conditions. This approach ensures civil service pay remains competitive while providing targeted assistance to help Singaporean households manage rising costs.
Transcript
1 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Prime Minister whether the Public Service Division will be considering a one-time wage adjustment for all civil servants to offset the anticipated high core inflation rate in 2022.
The Minister for Education (Mr Chan Chun Sing) (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Civil Service periodically reviews salaries and adjusts them when necessary to keep pace with, but not lead, the market. The recent salary adjustments for various groups of civil servants were determined based on salary gaps with market benchmarks. Beyond these adjustments, eligible officers also receive Annual Variable Component (AVC) payments and annual salary increments that take into consideration their performance, prevailing economic and labour market conditions and the National Wages Council’s recommendations on progressive wage growth.
In total, the salary increases arising from the recent salary reviews and annual salary increments, coupled with annual AVC payments, will more than exceed the inflation rate seen this year for all the civil servants who meet the criteria.
The Government has also rolled out a series of support measures this year, such as the recently announced Cost-of-Living Special Payment and additional CDC Vouchers. These support measures together will help to cushion the impact of sharp inflation changes and provide further relief for Singaporean households, with more support for lower- to middle-income groups.
Mr Speaker: Mr Ang.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast): Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. Can I just clarify one point? Minister was saying that with the recent adjustments in the civil service pay, every civil servant will get at least more than 5.1% of the salary increment because the core inflation rate in October is 5.1%? At the same time, we notice that there is a report in The Straits Times to say that about 68% of the employees were thinking of changing jobs if their pay is not increased more than the inflation rate.
The second supplementary question is: if that is so, that the Government is keeping the increment to more than 5.1% or inflation rate, would it encourage the rest of the Singapore companies to do the same as far as possible?
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Mr Speaker, Sir, to answer to the first supplementary question, as I have said, the salary increases arising from the recent salary reviews, plus annual salary increments, plus the AVC payments will more than exceed the inflation rate this year, for all the civil servants who meet the criteria. There might be a very, very small number of people who do not meet the performance criteria and they might be short of that 5% that the Member mentioned. But that is a very, very small number of people who do not meet the performance criteria. On top of that, the Government has all the other packages for all the Singaporean households, which we think will be able to meet the requirement to help those who are most in need.
On the second supplementary question, MOM together with the National Wages Council (NWC) has laid out its own recommendations for the rest of the economy to do what we can and especially do more, if possible, for those households and individuals who need more help.