Even before the pandemic swept across the globe, our lower-wage workers have been facing considerable strain for several years now. New technological trends, cost of living issues, disruption and globalisation – the list goes on. š With the recent rise in cost of living, things have been hard for many. But have you heard? Ahead of the requirement for the PWM for both the food services and supply chain sectors, FairPrice will be implementing the progressive wage model (PWM) across all its businesses! The PWM aims to help to increase wages of workers through upgrading skills and improving productivity.
In a facebook post over the weekend, NTUC Secretary General, Mr Ng Chee Meng also shared his hope that this āwill inspire other companies to do more for our lower-wage workers”. Our lower-wage workers do need more support in order to meet their basic retirement adequacy!
This move is expected to benefit more than 10,000 non-executive staff – comprising both full-timers and part-timers – across FairPrice Group’s businesses, which include FairPrice supermarkets as well as the Foodfare and Kopitiam foodcourts.
FairPrice Group chief executive Vipul Chawla: Implementing PWM from the get-go
FairPrice Group chief executive Vipul Chawla believes that a motivated and empowered workforce would best serve its customers, “While companies have six months to work on the implementation of PWM, we expedited and implemented it right from the get-go despite rising cost pressures and inflation.”
This initiative is expected to cost the group about $70 million over three years, taking into consideration government subsidies. The move complemented its holistic approach to developing its workforce by encouraging lifelong learning to strengthen skill sets, improving productivity and fostering a fulfilling career for staff.
Indeed, more can be done to uplift our vulnerable workers and it’s great that there has been ongoing attention on this!
