Turnover in PH firms on the rise as employees seek better pay

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TURNOVER rates in Philippine companies continued to increase in 2015 as more employees sought better pay opportunities and flexible work arrangements, global advisory firm Willis Towers Watson said.

Results of the 2015 Total Rewards Survey showed a 15 percent attrition rate last year, reflecting an increase of three percentage points from 2014.

According to the Towers Watson survey, the most commonly cited reasons why employees left a company were: better pay opportunity (70 percent), relocation or family migration (32 percent), relationship with supervisor (29 percent), health-related reasons (15 percent), and flexible work arrangement or work-life balance (14 percent).

The survey polled some 300 companies and was based on one of the largest compensation and benefits databases in the country. The database reflected salaries of 635,000 incumbents, representing industries such as banking and financial services, insurance, semiconductor, IT and telecommunications, business process outsourcing, retail, power and energy, pharmaceutical, consumer products and manufacturing and construction and engineering.

“Contrary to the perception that the BPO and information technology sectors dominated employee pay in the country, the survey results showed the banking and financial services industry paid the highest, followed by the consumer products/manufacturing sector,” Vangie Daquilanea, global data services practice head of Willis Towers Watson Philippines, said in a statement.

In terms of entry-level salaries, engineering and IT roles commanded the highest pay compared to other functions such as accounting and finance, human resources, administrative services and supply chain/procurement. New graduates of engineering and IT courses get a entry-level salary of about P22,000 a month.

The survey also highlighted the importance of employee–manager relationship to prevent talents from transferring to competitors and other related firms.

Daquilanea also cited the need for companies to revisit employee health and wellness programs. She said this was the first time health-related concerns cropped up in the survey.

“Companies should start reviewing the effectiveness of their health benefit program coverage, ensuring it should also cover and highlight illness prevention, aside from treatment or cure,” she said.