Like most countries across the world, Singapore’s economy was affected during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
In light of the challenging times, our civil servants had to forego their year-end bonuses.
As the economy slowly recovers in 2022, some civil servants will now see a pay rise of 5-14%.
This will help the civil service attract and retain talent.
According to The Straits Times (ST) on Sunday (5 Jun), the Public Service Division (PSD) said selected civil servants will enjoy a pay rise from 1 Aug.
This applies to officers working under civil service generic and related schemes.
Those who will get a pay bump of 5-10% are under the following schemes:
Grades whose salaries are further from the market benchmark will have greater pay adjustments.
Staff under the Operations Support Scheme (OSS) will also get higher adjustments of 6-14%.
Explaining why, the PSD said,
This is in line with the call by the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers to uplift the salaries of lower-wage workers.
The pay rises will thus benefit civil servants whose jobs involve policymaking, administration and operations work.
However, those under specialised schemes won’t get it — meaning police officers, teachers, accountants, and foreign service officers will miss out for now.
Thus, the total number of civil servants who will benefit is about 23,000.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), PSD said the pay rise is the result of a periodic review of salaries.
Pay adjustments will be made after this review when necessary so that the civil service can keep pace with the market but not lead it.
The last time civil servants under generic schemes saw a pay rise was in 2014 when thousands enjoyed a 5% increase.
PSD added that the August pay rise will also enable the civil service to continue attracting and retaining its fair share of talent.
Due to the pandemic, the importance of a strong public service has been highlighted.
Hence, PSD said the public service is committed to attracting, developing and retaining a future-ready workforce that can continue to deliver its best for Singapore and Singaporeans.
Other ways the PSD is helping civil servants is by offering meaningful career opportunities and supporting their growth and development, such as providing job attachments, structured job rotations, formal training and project work.
They’ve also introduced hybrid work arrangements and flexi-work options.
While civil servants missed their year-end bonus in 2020, it was partly made up in 2021.
They received a 0.3-month mid-year bonus and a one-month year-end bonus last year.
On top of that, those holding junior grades got a lump sum payment of S$500.
These bonuses were in recognition of their hard work and contributions throughout the pandemic.
Our public officers have made countless sacrifices throughout the pandemic to ensure our system is running smoothly.
As our economy recovers, it’s only fitting that they get rewarded for their work.
Let’s hope this is a promising sign of things to come for workers in other sectors.
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Featured image by MS News.
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