PH salaries to rise 4%, says survey

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Salaries in the Philippines are expected to rise by 4 percent this year as the race to attract skills and talent continue amid high inflation pressures, according to global recruitment firm Robert Walters.

More than 2,000 respondent companies and clients were surveyed in the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2023 conducted in September of last year, benchmarking salary and recruitment trends in the Philippines.

“We are expecting salary increments of 4 percent following standard inflation of markets year after year, while 25 percent to 30 percent will be the expectation of what employees could expect when they are switching jobs,” Alejandro Perez-Higuero, director of the Robert Walters office in the Philippines, told the Inquirer in an online interview.

Asked how the predicted salary growth compares to 2022, Perez-Higuero said: “Probably not very different, but definitely not higher.”

The Robert Walters executive said further that while there are uncertainties in the global market this year, he said those headwinds are driving companies to consider the Philippines as a market for centralizing some functions.

Brighter market outlook

This, in turn, means that salary increments are very similar and stable compared to last year, according to Perez-Higuero.

Pressed on how the Philippines rank and compare to other countries, Perez-Higuero said the Philippines “will be on the brighter side of the world when it comes to the market outlook” for 2023.

The Robert Walters executive said that foreign companies have further ramped up their shared services centers in the Philippines, with many looking to supplement their workforce with talent in the southeast Asian country.

“As more and more startups—especially those that specialize in technology, finance and digital services—enter the market this year, we expect the Philippines to strengthen its position in the global workforce market by the end of 2023,” Perez-Higuero said.

English-speaking

The Philippines was also cited as possessing an English-speaking population with a knack for customer service, which makes it a hotspot for companies looking to hire.

Sought for comment, Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. told the Inquirer that they also see salaries rising this year, noting however that it would depend on the size of companies.

“It depends. Some of the big companies I know are offering 10 percent. Some have 5 percent,” Ortiz-Luis said in a phone interview.

“But for (micro, small and medium enterprises), especially the micro and small, there is none because they are hardly able to afford it in this economy,” he added, saying smaller firms tend to wait for the order from wage boards.

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