About 22,000 civil servants to get pay rise of between 2% and 9% from August
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Adjustments to civil servant salaries are meant to keep pace with market standards and enable the public service to continue attracting and retaining talent.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SINGAPORE – About 22,000 civil servants in roles ranging from policy to planning and operations will see salary increments of between 2 per cent and 9 per cent from Aug 1.
The adjustments are to keep pace with market standards and enable the public service to continue attracting and retaining talent amid a more complex global environment, the Public Service Division (PSD) said in a statement on Feb 20.
The changes, part of a periodic review, will affect eligible officers on several schemes. Salary levels in the market have increased since the last wage increments of 5 per cent to 14 per cent in 2022,
Eligible officers on the management executive scheme will receive salary adjustments of 2 per cent to 9 per cent, with higher adjustments for grades that have larger gaps with market benchmarks, it added.
There will be no adjustments for officers whose salaries are already competitive, PSD said.
Eligible officers on the technical support scheme will receive salary adjustments of 4 per cent to 9 per cent, while eligible officers on the management support scheme and corporate support scheme will receive salary adjustments of 4 per cent to 5 per cent.
Eligible officers on the operations support scheme will receive salary adjustments of 4 per cent to 8 per cent.
The changes come after close consultation with the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE), PSD said.
In a Facebook post on Feb 20, AUPE general secretary Sanjeev Tiwari said the union – the largest public sector union in Singapore with 23,000 members – welcomed the salary revision. “With the last adjustments in 2022, the revisions are timely to keep pace with changes in the market.”
Mr Tiwari, who is also a Nominated MP, said the salary revisions will help uplift the wages of lower- to middle-income civil servants in various schemes of service and reflect a necessary step in “ensuring our officers are competitively remunerated in a rapidly changing economic environment”.
He added that AUPE will continue to work in close partnership with the PSD and government agencies to advocate better wages, welfare and work prospects for its officers.
This is not only to keep pace with the market but also to recognise the increasing demands of the work its officers do for Singapore, Mr Tiwari said.
“The work our officers do has grown in complexity, and officers are required to do more in a lean workforce,” he noted.
“These adjustments are a vital recognition of that reality, to ensure our civil servants’ total remuneration remains competitive and that the public service remains a place where talent is valued and nurtured, to deliver quality public services.”
The public service employs about 154,000 officers across various ministries, statutory boards and organs of state.
PSD said the public service periodically reviews salaries and adjusts them when necessary to “broadly keep pace with, but not lead, the market”.
The public service will also continue to strengthen rewards for performance and step up efforts to provide officers with meaningful career and growth opportunities, it added.
Public servant Raman Kathavarayan, 53, said he is happy about the salary adjustment, which will help him fund his children’s education, given that one of his two sons just entered polytechnic.
The mechanical maintenance supervisor, who takes home about $2,000 a month, said it will also help him cope with the rising cost of living as the family’s sole breadwinner.
Mr Raman, who is also a union leader, added that the increment will go some way to supporting lower-wage public servants, such as those working in maintenance and public health, as the last salary adjustment was some time ago.
