Singapore's government announced a mid-year annual variable component (AVC) of half a month for civil servants on Thursday. The lower-wage civil servants will receive a built-in wage increase of up to S$20 in their monthly salary, over and above their annual increment in 2017.
The Public Service Division (PSD) said in its press release that Grade IV officers would get a built-in wage increase of S$15 in their monthly salaries and Grade V officers in the Operations Support Scheme, S$20. It added that the wage increases would benefit some 1,485 employees.
PSD said that this will be in addition to their annual increment for the full year, and "signals the Government's continued commitment to raise the salaries of lower-wage civil servants".
According to the authorities, the mid- year payments were decided in close consultation with the public sector and come against the backdrop of 2.7 per cent growth of the economy in the first quarter of the year and expected growth of 1 to 3 per cent for the full year.
"Labour demand is expected to remain uneven across sectors in 2017. Total employment growth has moderated, while the unemployment rate has trended upwards and redundancies are expected in some sectors as the economy restructures," PSD added.
PSD said the mid-year payments will be made in July this year. The Government will decide on the year-end annual variable component payment for civil servants after taking into consideration Singapore's economic performance in the second half of 2017.
