Singapore's battle to lift wages at the bottom

The Progressive Wage Model is Singapore's answer to minimum wage. Ten years after it was made mandatory in its first sector, The Straits Times looks at the model's initial aims, present challenges and future prospects.

- Ng Wei Kai Tay Hong Yi

When Mr Hamdi Hayee took a job as a cleaning supervisor 16 years ago, he was looking to leave the catering business to reduce contact with food and drink that are forbidden for Muslims to consume, such as alcohol and pork.

But over the years, his wages stagnated at about $1,000 a month and finances were tight.

Mr Hamdi, 62, said: "I had to be careful with what I spent on." Things like holidays and meals in restaurants were luxuries for his family. His wife also works in cleaning, and their two sons were still in school at the time.

But this started to change 10 years ago, when Singapore adopted a unique strategy known as the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which sets out sector-specific minimum salary levels, tied to a worker's skills and productivity improvements.

Formulated by the unions in consultation with the Government and private sector, the model was implemented in 2014 and began to push up the salaries of workers that had remained persistently low.

The base salary of Mr Hamdi, who is now a cleaning supervisor at Chye Thiam Maintenance managing 10 other cleaners, has more than doubled to at least $2,455, not including other skill-based allowances.

The Straits Times looks back at Singapore's answer to the minimum wage, which has grown to cover more than 155,000 lower-wage workers across nine sectors and occupations in the past 10 years.

WHAT IS THE PROGRESSIVE WAGE MODEL?

The PWM is first and foremost a wage floor, said Associate Professor Ong Ee Cheng from the National University of Singapore's economics department.

It mandates a minimum wage for workers in certain sectors and occupations. It also sets career pathways where workers will see their salaries grow if they meet stipulated training requirements.

The aim is to uplift the wages of Singaporeans and permanent residents whose salaries are in the bottom 20 per cent of all wages, she said.