A worldwide study on employment trends by Grant Thornton has found that employees in the Philippines face better salary-increase prospects than their counterparts in other countries this year, Malacañang reported Saturday.

“In the Philippines, employees are looking at less gloomy prospects as majority of the local PHBs (privately-held businesses) surveyed expect to increase wages this year,” said Grant Thornton in its International Business Report (IBR) 2009,.

“Seventy-six percent of Filipino business leaders expect either to increase wages above the rate of inflation or in line with it, while only 2 percent plan to reduce pay…” noted the IBR which revealed that an average of only 10 percent of PHBs worldwide intend to increase the salaries of their employees.

Thornton IBR 2009 added the following good news about the Philippines’ employment situation despite the global economic slump:

“In addition, 35 percent of local PHBs expect to increase their number of employees; (and) 49 percent plan to maintain their current total workforce.”

The Thornton report also pointed out that “while we’re hearing about companies around the world not having enough business to keep all their employees, Filipino business leaders have the jobs…”

The rosy Philippine employment situation is in contrast with the gloomy global situation. “Employees at nearly a quarter of privately held businesses (PHBs) around the world could be worse off in the year ahead,” noted Thornton’s IBR.

“Research from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) reveals that 21 percent of businesses plan to offer no pay rise in 2009 while 3 percent of businesses actually expect to reduce pay.

“This is in contrast to only 10 percent of businesses expecting to increase pay above the rate of inflation,” said Thornton.

International Business Report surveys the views of senior executives in privately held businesses (PHBs) all over the world. Launched in 1992 in nine European countries, the report now annually surveys over 7,200 PHBs in 36 economies “providing territory, regional and global trend data on the economic and commercial issues affecting a sector often described as the 'engine' of the world's economy.”

The IBR results were released by audit, tax and business advisory firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), a member firm within Grant Thornton International.