The average Singaporean makes $2,000 a month, this person is highly educated and hard working. The need to constant upgrading of skills is encouraged by both the employer and government. Education is of the highest priority from a very young age and the pressure put on the children to advance and do well in school is enormous.
When they start working they may start out with a monthly salary of $1,200 to $1,500 depending on which field they are working in. older workers need to be retrained in job skills to earn certificates from the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) or National Skills Resignation System (NSRS) to be able to continue to work.
Changing requirements for other worker (25 to 50 years of age) require them to attend classes to keep their qualification to keep their jobs, this is life in the workforce of Singapore.
So it brings up a good question on why the pay is so low for such highly skilled workers? When I received my qualifications to be a Security Officer did I get a raise, NO! And I know of no one else that has either even under the new WSQ system. Security Officer are still making as much now as I did back in 2003 when I was working in the field 4 years ago.
The cost of living has gone up and the GST has gone from 5% to 7% but no raise for the workers to cover this. The government has some schemes to help people that these a only short term fixed and in the long run don’t really add up to much anyway, but every little bit helps I guess.
If you step back and look at the big picture you will see what may be the reason for the low pay in Singapore. Singapore is a land of people and only people, that is all Singapore has to offer the world, no more no less, that’s it. With the other countries in the region trying to play catch up to Singapore the country need to keep it’s self marketable to investors to bring their operation here vice other countries. Ok you see where this is going now? Skilled, cheap labor is here in Singapore. I think that has always been the selling point to companies on Singapore. While it is good for the country, the poor worker that is putting in 72 hours a week it’s a killer, but what can be done? Not much, here in Singapore you can not strike or protest, the union is ran by the government, most government official have stocks in many (if not all) of the major companies in the country, the owners of the companies have no incentive to give out big raises since this will cut in to their profits and heir earning. Since the people don’t complain why should anyone care and no one dose care.
The pay gap between the average worker and the upper class is as big as the Grand Canyon, you just can’t fathom it until you are standing there looking it and realize how big it is.
In the recently released World Wealth Report, the number of millionaires in Singapore has increased in number. Last year, some 67,000 Singaporeans had at least USD1 million worth of assets, an increase of 21% over the year before. Singapore's number of millionaires is the world's fastest growing, followed by India and Indonesia growing at 20.5% and 16% respectively. In fact, one-third of the millionaires (approximately 18,000 people) in Singapore are Indonesian tycoons living in the city-state. Their total assets are worth approximately USD87bn. There are only 55,000 Singaporean millionaires with a total asset of USD260bn.
Much of the public anger stems from the fact that in absolute terms, the new proposed government salaries equivalent to more than US$1 million per year dwarf the pay of average Singaporean wage earners. This is especially true since the wage gap between upper- and middle-class earners in Singapore has widened dramatically in recent years. And PAP politicians are acutely aware of the growing disparity.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan (no relation to the prime minister) said in Parliament on November 8 2006: "At the household level, between 1990 and 2005, households in the top 20% experienced the fastest per capita income growth of 6% per annum. The lowest 20% actually [saw] their household income decline between 2000 and 2005.
"We can see the effect of globalization here," he noted. "It is pulling both ends further apart. The end result? The top is soaring ahead, the bottom is falling behind and the middle is feeling the pressure."
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Warren's Singapore 2008