Local privately-held firms plan to hike wages this year

MANILA, Philippines - Majority of privately-held companies in the Philippines are set to hike employees’ wages this year, a poll undertaken by global group of accounting and consulting companies said. Approximately 76 percent of privately-held businesses (PHB) are seen to raise salaries at the rate of inflation or higher, a Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) said. While 12 percent of businesses interviewed plan to keep salaries at current levels, two percent of entities polled said that they may even reduce wages this year, the report said. Moreover, of the total Philippine companies polled, 35 percent expect to hire more workers while 49 percent will maintain the size of their current workforce. Local companies see ‘lack of skilled workers’ as a major constraint to their expansion, said Greg Navarro, managing partner and chief executive officer of Punongbanyan & Araullo (P&A), a member of Grant Thornton International. “So while we’re hearing about companies around the world not having enough business to keep all their employees, Filipino business leaders have the jobs but have difficulty finding the right workers. It’s a no less worrying situation to be in." This is best exemplified by the business process outsourcing industry (BPO) which intends to generate 100,000 new positions this year. But filing those positions may be difficult as companies struggle with high attrition rates, low recruitment yield, poaching, and a shrinking talent pool. This explains why the BPO industry remains committed to addressing the skills gap – an increasing number of American and European companies are outsourcing to countries that have inexpensive labor such as the Philippines The same report also indicated that employees in nearly a quarter of PHBs may not be as fortunate as their Filipino counterparts. An estimated 21 percent of PHBs around the world have no plans of offering raises for their workers, the report said, adding that three percent of PHBs also expect to cut wages. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of PHBs around the world plan to increase pay above the rate of inflation. Originally launched in 1992 in nine European countries, the report now covers more than 7,200 PHBs in 36 economies providing territory, regional, and global trend information. - GMANews.TV