60 percent of Singapore-based respondents expect the economic situation to deteriorate in 2020. The same number of respondents also expect their employers to perform better financially in 2020, than in 2019, according to Randstad’s Workmonitor 2019 Q4 results.

Jaya Dass, Managing Director of Randstad Singapore and Malaysia, said, “Many Singaporeans are aware of the impact that the Sino-US trade war and moderating global trade has on our local economy. As a regional innovation hub, companies are investing in new technologies that have the potential to drive business growth. Many companies are also venturing into deep tech such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and data science. These investments and efforts by businesses will help create more new jobs for Singaporeans.”

Even though Singapore’s economy only expanded 0.7 percent in 2019 (compared to 3.1 percent in 2018), many locally-based workers are still expecting pay raises and bonuses.

Sixty-three percent of respondents expect to receive a pay raise and 69 percent want to receive a one-time bonus at the end of their fiscal year. 

Dass shares, “Mature workers are much more aware of the budget constraints during a slowing economy, as they had experienced it before during the 2009 global financial crisis and are often involved in discussions around tightening budgets. Therefore, they are likely to have a more realistic expectation on salary raises and bonuses this year.  

More than one in four respondents (28 percent) had changed employers in the past six months. More than half of the survey respondents (55 percent) have a stronger focus on promotions in quarter four in 2019.

“For many companies, the annual performance appraisal cycle starts right after the year ends. During this period, many employees are concerned about whether their performance for the past 12 months is enough to secure that promotion they have been aiming for. However, companies may not experience the usual attrition rate this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Jaya adds.