Singapore workers push for more flexible and transparent pay as half struggle to make ends meet

SINGAPORE: Singapore workers are pushing for more pay flexibility and transparency, as half said they were either just getting by or struggling financially, according to Deel’s 2025 Singapore Payday Expectations Report.

What’s alarming is that 42% said they would not be able to sustain their lifestyle for less than three months without income. For 13% of workers, even a month without pay would be catastrophic.

Notably, only 13% of workers said their pay had kept up with inflation, with just 8% of millennials saying their pay had kept up with rising costs.

Frequent pay cycle woes of Singapore workers as they try to make ends meet

To make ends meet, 55% said they had cut back on non-essential spending, and 41% had taken on part-time or freelance jobs, while others relied on credit cards (47%), buy-now-pay-later services (33%), and earned wage access (EWA) (20%), which lets employees access part of their wages before payday.

According to Deel’s report, this has shifted workers’ thinking about pay, with 18% saying they preferred more frequent pay cycles, especially among younger workers. The most common choices were weekly or twice-monthly payments.

While 47% of workers had not heard of EWA, 74% said they would consider using it if their employer offered it. Notably in this group were Gen Z workers (33%), working parents (29%) and those expecting children (32%), although only about a quarter of payroll teams currently invest in such solutions.

Demand for pay flexibility and transparency

Workers in the city-state also said they would take a higher salary with fewer benefits (57%), the option to mix salary, leave and benefits (54%), or lower pay if it came with remote or hybrid work arrangements (24%) if given the choice to customise their pay packages.

Meanwhile, 69% of workers said they were open to other forms of pay, including stocks or equity (46%), employer-backed rewards or loyalty points (34%), and cryptocurrency (28%), instead of cash.

While 71% said they were comfortable with industry-wide disclosure of salaries, 72% still found job-stage negotiations challenging, and only 41% felt comfortable discussing their pay with colleagues.

At the same time, only 29% of employees said they could confidently “decode” their payslips, while three-quarters believed employers could do more to make them clearer. Meanwhile, 27% of workers were still not sure whom to contact for payroll questions. /TISG

Read also: Does a degree lead to higher pay in Singapore? MOM data reveals S$8,650 median salary for degree holders

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