Uplifting lower-wage workers not as easy as just setting minimum salaries: DPM Wong

SINGAPORE: Uplifting lower-wage workers is not as easy as just setting minimum salaries and Singapore must be careful about “unintended consequences” when working through solutions, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday .

“This means not just good starting salaries but having the new wage increases tied to a skills ladder,” said Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister. Saying that there is"no silver bullet" in solving the problem, he cited examples of some countries with the highest minimum wages which also have high wage disparity and high unemployment rates.

“So these are all unintended consequences that can easily happen if you're not careful in thinking about the right solutions." “It takes longer for such an approach to work. It is because you have to build consensus and you have to bring people along with you, so it takes longer,” he added. He said that no organisation has a flat salary structure across the board and that there will always be a range. The question, he added, is how to keep the range compact and make sure every worker is valued.

It actually is.

The key is money is circulated in Singapore and not out of Singapore, increase minimum wage will increase spending and increase GDP and increase more demand= more GST. The problem is they use foreign workers which will transfer their money out of SG instead of spending here.

What does this mean? “…the beneficiaries of a higher minimum wage are not low-income families but young people from rich families who go out and work at minimum wage levels”?

And civil servants just got their salary adjustments? 🤔

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