As the employment landscape starts to rapidly evolve, the newly released Jobstreet by SEEK 2024 Hiring, Compensation and Benefits Report revealed that more companies are open to offering new forms of compensation and benefits to attract and retain top talents. This resulted in additional benefits, shifted priorities, and most notably, salary increases.
To obtain this data, Jobstreet by SEEK surveyed over 680 hiring professionals from Philippine companies of varying industries, roles, and sizes. The study was conducted in September 2023 to help hirers revolutionize employment through creating innovative solutions and valuable insights into the future of work.
“The current age of employment is here and it is progressing exponentially day by day, and as we see it, 2024 is a very promising year for the job market. We hope this new report will be able to guide our hirers and candidates in navigating the ever-dynamic world of work,” says Dannah Majarocon, Managing Director, Philippines, Jobstreet by SEEK.
As the momentum of hiring activities remained stable in 2023, the employment market in the Philippines is set to remain positive for the beginning of 2024. According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the unemployment rate from the end of 2023 is recorded to be the lowest in two decades, standing at only 3.1%. Given this, 61% of the hirers surveyed were confident that the job market will continue to be active in the first half of the year, with them eagerly looking for new talents, and candidates proactively seeking jobs.
However, the report also shows that a 41% decline in confidence was seen for the second half of 2024. This can be attributed to the higher degree of uncertainty that hirers displayed, with 16% of them mentioning the job market’s unpredictability during that period—which could be influenced by factors such as economic conditions and global events.
Having said this, 2024 is anticipated to be the year when hirers will need to recalibrate their compensation offerings to be able to attract the best talents available—an opportunity for employers to expand the benefits and consider other essential factors that candidates are starting to look for.
Current and Future Outlook on Compensation and Benefits
The year 2023 became a great recovery period for companies. This can be seen in the report’s data on salary increments offered by hirers that reached an average of 10.24%, significantly higher than the 7.3% average in 2022.
With this, most companies implemented salary benchmarking to retain current employees. This is followed closely by evaluating the company’s pay guidelines and policies. More companies likewise gave out performance bonuses in 2023 with the average increasing 2.3 months of salary, compared to just 1.3 months in 2022.
Staff promotions also notably increased from 60% to 70% in 2023. Overall, these figures signify the companies’ commitment to creating a positive and progressive work environment to keep their existing talents.
Further into the report, the benefits provided by most of the companies were seen to cater to the current needs of their employees. More of them offered birthday leaves in 2023 with 15% planning to do so in the future. Meanwhile, 14% and 13% of companies plan to offer menstrual leave and family care leave in the future. This shows how diversity and inclusivity are truly emphasized in the workplace.
As for financial benefits, the top ones are medical insurance, health checks, and dental coverage with an increase of 8% each. Some companies are also planning to introduce or are already introducing fund/retirement plans and mental health treatment coverage/insurance. Companies were also seen to be prioritizing career development through apprenticeship/mentoring programs and introducing training/self-learning programs.
Employee satisfaction is also being won by companies through offering accommodation rental reimbursements, flexible working hours, and free snacks. These go hand-in-hand with the trend of companies working on prioritizing employee mental health with a number of them eyeing to offer wellness counseling/talks, employee assistance programs, and mental health day off or medical leave and mental health app subscriptions.
Extended medical insurance for family members, internet, and transportation allowances are also being considered to be part of hirers’ employee benefits.
Hiring Trends in 2023
An improvement was also seen in hiring behaviors in 2023. Almost all of the companies surveyed said they hired at least one employee within the year (99%), surpassing the data gathered in 2022 (89%). Moreover, the largest portion of this growth came from permanent full-time employees, reflecting a strong commitment to building a stable and long-term workforce.
Workforce reduction, however, was still a bit rampant with 24% scaling down, mirroring the figures from 2022. Out of the statistics, 15% are permanent full-time employees. This shift is attributed to different departments undergoing restructuring, downscaling, and higher turnovers. Medium-sized businesses, in particular, were seen to have significantly reduced their number of permanent part-time and contractual/temporary full-time employees. This shows the dynamic nature of workforce adjustments with larger businesses and medium-sized companies taking the lead in employee reductions in 2023.
When it comes to work arrangement, the report reveals that more companies started fully going back to the office (57%), but more are adopting a hybrid model with some remote work depending on the job function (21%). For 2024, most companies are expected to adopt a very similar model and are seen to be more than likely here to stay.
While the beginning of 2024 seems just to be following the trends in 2023, the second half is full of uncertainties. Hirers are therefore expected to get creative in terms of developing a strategic recruitment approach to attract and retain more talents.
