The average monthly wage rates of selected occupations saw a decline of 9 percent in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, versus the 2018 level, data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
According to the 2020 Occupational Wages Survey released yesterday, of the 190 monitored occupations across the covered industries, the average monthly wage rate of time-rated workers on full-time basis was recorded at P16,486 in 2020, down from the P18,108 posted in 2018.
To recall, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to spread in the country in 2020, forcing the government to implement lockdown measures which, in turn, affected many businesses in the country.
Among the various time-rated workers on full-time basis, the highest average monthly wage rate was recorded for mathematicians, actuaries and statisticians in insurance, reinsurance and pension funding except compulsory social security at P63,368 in 2020.
Computer network professionals in computer programming, consultancy and related activities; information service activities ranked second with an average wage rate of P59,787 per month.
Geologists from two different industry groups came in third and fourth receiving monthly average wage rates of P50,449 (architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy) and P49,090 (mining of coal and lignite; extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas; and other mining and quarrying), respectively.
Production supervisors and general foremen engaged in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply received an average of P48,502 a month, rounding out the top five.
Other occupations under information and communications technology were also included in the top 10 highest paid jobs such as: software developers in medical transcription activities (P48,000); and system analysts (P47,337) and electronics engineers (P45,331) both in computer programming, consultancy and related activities; information services activities.
The PSA said the median monthly basic pay of time-rated workers on full-time basis across all industries was registered at P13,646 in 2020 or a 0.6 percent increase from P13,559 in 2018.
By major industry group, 13 out of 18 covered industries in 2020 had a higher median monthly basic pay compared to all industries.
The 2020 Occupational Wages Survey is a nationwide survey of establishments which employ 20 or more workers. It is conducted every two years to monitor the wage rates of two benchmark occupations and at most 11 occupations in each of the pre-determined 55 out of the 71 industries.
Meanwhile, the PSA also released its labor turnover statistics yesterday which showed that the first and second quarters of 2021 posted drops in employment in establishments located in the National Capital Region as community quarantines due to the COVID-19 pandemic were continuously implemented during the period.
Labor turnover, as measured by the difference in accession and separation rates, implied negative growth in employment for both quarters, the PSA said.
During the first quarter of 2021, labor turnover stood at -3.1 percent and continued to weaken during the second quarter at -1.2 percent.
“These can be translated to reductions of 31 workers in the first quarter while 12 workers in the second quarter for every 1,000 persons employed in the establishments,” the PSA said.
