basic wage drop.

Basic wage increases and hiring prospects are expected to take a hit this year against the backdrop of an uncertain economy.

But a survey released on Thursday shows that reality hasn't hit home for many employees.

If the numbers are any indication, then it looks like employers are spooked by the uncertain economic outlook.

Data from consultancy firm, Remuneration Data Specialists (RDS) show that basic wage increases this year are expected to drop to 3.6 per cent compared to the 4.1 per cent growth seen in 2011.

Coupled with an inflation rate of about 2.5 to 3.5 per cent, and you're likely to see your total wage go up by only 1.3 per cent.

This is according to a survey of 151 companies in October by RDS.

Variable bonus, excluding AWS, for the year is expected to drop slightly to between 1.8 and 2.1 months, compared to the average 2.2 months workers got last year.

Peter Lee, managing consultant, Remuneration Data Specialists, said: "I think employments prospects will get a little bit tighter. We have everybody from government to the private sector economists saying, be prepared for a grimmer 2012.

Companies are also easing off on hiring.

The RDS survey showed that 54 per cent of respondents said they are likely to hire in the first half of 2012 - that's down from the 77 per cent of companies which said they hired staff in 2011.

Job portal JobStreet.com said 54 per cent of the over 300 employers it surveyed, felt this year's employment outlook is worse than last year's.

95 per cent think the economy is slowing down or stagnant and uncertain.

While about 66 per cent said they are not hiring or only replacing essential positions.

But a separate poll of 2,799 employees revealed a different outlook.

55 per cent of them said it was a suitable time to change jobs and 79 per cent said they want to explore a career switch, while citing increased pay as the top reason to jump ship.

Experts said this confidence may be misplaced.

Khoo Wei Ren, manager, Solution Sales, JobStreet.com, said: "A lot of companies are more cautious especially going into this year but this information has never channelled down to a person that's just graduated. So some people will definitely struggle to secure a job and it will probably take them longer as well".

Mr Khoo said most workers can expect to wait three to six months to land a job.

"This includes applying for more jobs, going for more interviews, it's because employers will have a wider selection. So they probably see like 10, 15 people, as compared to before where it's tight right? I just see three to four people," he added.

Experts said workers should therefore moderate their expectations.

As a pre-emptive strike, some Community Development Councils have come up with schemes to help those who may be affected by a possible recession.

These include interim measures like giving away transport or food vouchers to families as well as job matching services, for the jobless.

In a separate survey on women in leadership by the Singapore Human Resources Institute, statistics show that women still face challenges in the workforce.

Common complaints include - not being given challenging assignments or leadership positions and not being as equally rewarded as their male colleagues in similar jobs.

"I think one of the reasons could be the competencies of these respondents, it could also be their priorities in their career and work life because if they hit a certain age, they are probably thinking of having a family. Or even the opportunity to undertake an overseas assignment, they may not be prepared to take that up because of family or private reasons," said Executive Director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, David Ang.

He added the workforce participation rate of women has been going up over the years but said there is still a huge pool of untapped potential among the group.

This is especially so, for women who seek to get back into the workforce after starting a family.

"We must be prepared to open up the opportunities and also when they come back into the workforce, give them some form of orientation, some form of refresher in terms of where they have left off, in terms of their skills and abilities", said Mr Ang.

"Organisations, in times of this talent crunch, should look at these people," he said.