I don’t think anyone is going to object to getting a bigger pay packet and it seems that seven in 10 workers might well be made very happy with the Wage Credit Scheme going by what ST reported today.
The question is whether employers will bite – and why not, you say? Well, the worry about what happens after the three years of wage subsidy is up will be on their minds. Can they afford to take up that 40 per cent portion of G-funded wage rises, especially if productivity efforts did not work? Will they clamour for a continuation of that gigantic $3.6 billion package, given that, hmmm, the next general election will be due then? The political pressure will increase for continued help with even more dire scenarios of companies closing shop painted.
Another issue that hasn’t been quite canvassed: The reaction of workers. I think we can expect pressure of another kind, this time on employers to raise pay. Expectations of seven in 10 workers will rise. All will be scrutinising the size of their wage packet and doing their sums on whether they should have got more, given that the G is giving bosses a helping hand. Employers will be doing their sums too with an eye on Year 3, and might well be more careful in doling out pay raises. So expect dashed expectations.
I guess some workers will also argue that since the G is already willing to give 40 per cent and the employer has already thought about a pay rise, then the pay rise should be more than 100 per cent. That way, wages are definitely raised – which is what everyone likes, no? They might not view the G subsidy as an effort to help the companies use the money for productivity improvements. The argument will be: since the G is giving you money, you can afford to give us more.
This will be a pretty short-term view, but mightily important to those earning less than $4,000 a month with children to raise and bills to pay. After the three years, then what? If the company cannot sustain its wage bill on its own steam, then woe betide those who have enjoyed three good years. I can hear the clamour: the scheme should continue or you’ll see how I will vote come 2016.
I think the objectives of the wage credit scheme should be clarified for the common man, to contain expectations that their wages will increase dramatically because of this help. That the effort is more about helping employers to restructure and re-skill their workers so that at the end of three years, both employer and employee will be comfortably off. This means workers must have a clear idea that they in the scheme along with their employers, that they have a stake in making the company work smarter so that they don’t find themselves worse off after three years. It means that within the three years, you don’t going looking for another job because it pays a bit more, that you have an obligation to the taxpayers, really, who are funding your pay increase to give your companies some respite.
Therefore, the objective of the Wage Credit Scheme must be clear and not only directed at employers, some of whom might well game the system for their own ends. It is important as well to reach those seven in 10 workers, not a small number, who will be waiting for a fatter wallet.
READ http://www.breakfastnetwork.sg for a Chef’s Special on how EMPLOYERS might react to the Wage Credit Scheme