Fairer wages alone not enough to retain workers: Opinion

The National Wages Council has recommended that employers raise salaries for lower wage workers in Singapore in a fair and sustainable way in line with individual company performance to narrow that income gap.

In an op-ed, Assoc Prof Trevor Yu from NTU’s NBS discusses the move, which comes as inflation bites and economic headwinds persist. “When it comes to the core economic and business issues like pay, we need employers, employees and governments to work closely together to find a balanced recommendation that would not only be perceived to be fair on the part of workers, but also reasonable factoring the overall economic outlook of the nation, which directly impacts the business of employers,” he wrote.

“When it comes to the core economic and business issues like pay, we need employers, employees and governments to work closely together to find a balanced recommendation that would not only be perceived to be fair on the part of workers, but also reasonable factoring the overall economic outlook of the nation, which directly impacts the business of employers,” Assoc Prof Yu added.