Fewer bankers in Singapore expecting a Merry Christmas this bonus season

Lunchtime crowd at the foyer of Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN 
Lunchtime crowd at the foyer of Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN 

SINGAPORE - Bankers and other finance industry professionals are fairly confident that they will get an annual bonus this year but fewer of them are expecting a bigger payout compared with last year, a survey has found.

About seven in 10 financial services professionals said they believed they would get a bonus this year, the same percentage as last year.

However, only about four in 10 think that this year's bonus will be bigger than the previous year's, compared with five in 10 last year.

The survey, conducted by career website eFinancialCareers, polled 696 professionals working in Singapore in banking and finance in September and October this year.

As for salaries, 75 per cent of respondents (75%) said that their base salary has increased over the past year.

Mr George McFerran, sales and marketing director at eFinancialCareers said: "Results from the survey are not a reflection of the health of the financial services industry in Singapore but indicate that professionals have more realistic expectations when it comes to this year's bonus payout. We've often seen a mismatch in the past."

He added that more financial services firms were beginning to award a bigger part of the bonus pot to top performers rather than the rest.

A number of employers have also "significantly increased basic salaries for front office

revenue-generating staff", he said.

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