Employers also doing better in supporting employee mental health
More employers in the Philippines are implementing flexible work arrangements and hiking bonuses to address concerns such as inflation and a tight labour market, according to a new report.
Findings from Mercer's Global Talent Trends (GTT) Study 2023 revealed that 74% of surveyed organisations in the Philippines are implementing flexible working options for all their employees.
This is much higher than the rates recorded across Asia (50%) and the world (56%).
Nearly half (48%) of employers are also utilising bonuses instead of base salary to increase their employees' total compensation package, according to the report, while 35% are implementing adjustments across the entire workforce.
Despite this, only 17% of employers said they are providing a cost-of-living adjustment or other wage increases, lower than Asia's 22% and the 29% global rate.
The findings come as the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) previously warned that increasing wages would push companies, especially micro and small enterprises, to increase prices or downsize their workforce, Business World reported.
ECOP last year urged the government to find "non-wage measures," such as tax breaks, cash aid, and job creation instead of hiking wages, Inquirer reported.
Meanwhile, employers from the Philippines also "fared better" in supporting their employees' wellbeing, according to the report.
The GTT found that 65% of employers have carried out campaigns to address the stigma surrounding mental health, including 53% who redesigned work by implementing no-meeting days and balanced workloads.
The report, however, pointed out that only 28% of employers are providing adequate job security for gig or freelance workers, lower than Asia's 37%.
Employers from the Philippines also "outperformed their Asia counterparts" in encouraging employees to upskill, according to the Mercer media release.
The report found that 71% of employers in the Philippines "proactively nudge" their employees to undergo training, higher than Asia's 60%.
Employers, however, will need to work on their talent mobility opportunities (27%) and leveraging tools and technology as they lag in Asia.
According to the report, employers in the Philippines are slower to adopt AI to understand skills needs (16%), with only 14% of organisation having a robust assessment of technical skills.
Employers also need to remain "agile and flexible" to adapt to evolving employee expectations, according to Floriza Molon, Career Business Leader, Mercer Philippines.
"Leveraging and maximizing the multitude of tools and technology available for skills assessment, training and talent development will allow firms to refocus their efforts on improving the employee experience by building an enabling company culture and designing effective total rewards programs that are based on how their workforce can thrive," Molon said.
