Over half of Singapore finance professionals dismayed with bonus pay

They expected bigger rewards.

According to a survey be eFinancialCareers, the average bonus payment in financial services has increased 8% compared to last year according to the preliminary results of a comprehensive survey by leading online career site eFinancialCareers.

However, the majority of finance professionals in Singapore aren’t taking home a larger payout. In fact less than a third (31%) have seen an increase on their 2011 bonus payment and this indicates that only a select few are enjoying a bigger reward.

A similar proportion (32%) said that their bonus payment had met their expectations. Most were left disappointed and said their bonus was lower than they had expected (52%).

“The initial findings from our survey indicate the average bonus payout in financial services is up but actually only a third of people received a bigger bonus.

This potentially means the figure is being inflated by a comparatively small number of larger payouts.

“This is likely to be because the bonus pool was used to significantly reward top performers. It is a strategy which allows companies to manage costs while retaining key staff,” said George McFerran, Managing Director Asia Pacific at eFinancialCareers.

Along with the top performers those working at the local banks also enjoyed bonuses bigger than the industry average. Banks headquartered in Singapore paid out average bonuses that were 16% higher than the industry average paid in Singapore.

McFerran added: “Companies based in Singapore have been less exposed to the challenges in Europe and the US, and are in a better position than others to pay out good bonuses. The same banks are currently expanding, but on the whole financial services employers remain cautious about increasing their headcount.”