4,000 junior OCBC employees to receive $1,000 one-time payouts
A total of about 4,000 junior employees across OCBC Group in Singapore will be receiving a $1,000 payout each to help them cope with cost-of-living concerns, as inflation remains elevated.
These employees, comprising about 40 per cent of the group’s workforce in Singapore, are expected to receive the payout between February and April 2025. They include new joiners to the workforce and employees who are unionised.
“While inflation is forecasted to moderate in 2025, we acknowledge that cost-of-living concerns persist. The well-being of our people remains a top priority, so we hope that this one-off payment will ease concerns over the high living costs faced by our junior colleagues,” said Ms Lee Hwee Boon, head of group human resources at OCBC.
“Price levels also remain high due to the earlier increases in inflation,” the bank said in a statement on Dec 23.
The latest move is part of an approximately $7.5 million plan to help close to 11,000 employees across OCBC and its subsidiaries across 17 markets cope with cost-of-living pressures. For employees based outside of Singapore, the one-off support takes into consideration local market conditions.
This is the second one-off payout the bank has doled out to junior employees so far, the statement read.
In February, OCBC announced that 4,600 junior OCBC Group employees in Singapore were getting a $1,000 payout, in a bid to help them cope with rising costs of living.
In the same month, UOB said it will make a one-off payment – in the form of an extra month of bonus - to about 6,000 of its junior employees while DBS also handed out $1,000 bonuses to more than 5,500 junior staff in Singapore.
UOB and DBS did not immediately respond to questions on whether they plan to do a second pay-out to employees as well.
Singapore’s National Wages Council had in Oct 2023 called for companies to help employees cope with cost-of-living pressures, beyond support from the Government.
OCBC recorded a strong third-quarter performance, with net profit surging 9 per cent to $1.97 billion as compared to a year ago, driven by robust non-interest income growth and lower allowances. OCBC’s share prices have also risen 28 per cent since Jan 1.
The bank reported increased wealth management activities boosted fee and trading income, while insurance income grew as well.
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