Fewer hires expected in 2020: Mercer study
Only 45% of companies in the Philippines are considering adding new hires to their employee headcounts in 2020, lower than the 50% this year, according to a study by New York-based HR consulting firm Mercer. The drop is attributed to a number of companies shifting their focus to upskilling and retaining key employees due to an increasingly stable voluntary turnover rate. However, Mercer noted that 66% of Philippine firms lack a formal retention policy. In its Total Remuneration Surveys (TRS), Mercer also found that salary rises are projected to grow to 6% in 2020 from 5.5% in 2019, with the consumer goods, energy, and high-tech industries projected to get the highest salary increases at 6%.
Moreover, companies are reviewing their benefits packages as Gen Z joins the workforce in 2020, with 55% of firms already reviewing or changing their employee benefits, 43% considering a budget increase for salaries, and 21% planning a budget increase for benefits, said Floriza Molon, career business leader at Mercer Philippines. The popularity of the gig economy is also pushing companies to create more flexible working arrangements, offer differentiated value propositions, increase pay transparency, and rethink pay for performance, Molon said.
