The pandemic impact on employment in PNG: Insights from Peopleconnexion’s 2020/2021 Salary Survey
When Peopleconnexion released our salary survey in mid-2020 the nation was in the midst of a global health pandemic, at that point no-one really knew the lasting impact COVID would have on businesses in PNG. We saw most businesses had no other option than to ride out the COVID storm, by pausing plans for growth and downsizing.
In 2021, we can start to see the true impact of COVID on the economy and business operations. We can see that the restrictions on expatriate and general work travel affected businesses greatly, and resource output and workforce productivity reduced overall. The PNG economy has in-turn experienced weaker demand and less favourable terms of trade. What stands out though, is that in spite of these challenges PNG stayed strong, like it always does in the face of adversity, and surprisingly organisations rapidly adapted to the ?new normal?, and found creative ways to keep operating. The sentiment felt across the country was that businesses had to step up and increase operations despite the significant challenges the nation was (and is) experiencing.
The picture that emerges from this data and the work we do on the ground, is one of underlying economic growth in PNG, with enormous potential for employment to grow once we enter a new world post-COVID. What’s promising is the large amount of investment potential that exists for PNG particularly in the Energy and Resources sectors. We know that when some of the country’s large projects take-off, it will transform the employment landscape, bringing back thousands of expatriates and building local citizen talent.
We have a strong presence in the business community, and a team on the ground who have found that yes hiring has been impacted by COVID, but it looks like professional-level salaries have remained relatively unaffected with no big drops in wages since our survey in 2018/19. Since Peopleconnexion opened our Port Moresby office five years ago, we have been continually asked for guidance around remuneration benchmarking and packages. Our Salary Survey has proved to be a vital tool for senior executives, managers, and HR teams seeking to understand remuneration across a diverse range of industries and sectors in PNG.