By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) Staff working at property consultancies here have been receiving good tidings from their employers.

Thanks to the improvement in business, at least three of the big players - Knight Frank, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and DTZ - are restoring salaries to levels before they were cut this year.

Knight Frank and JLL have also gone further, by reimbursing staff for salary cuts this year. Most employees at Colliers International will also bid adieu to a salary deferment scheme introduced earlier this year.

Property consultants are also boosting their headcount in anticipation of an economic recovery.

Knight Frank has returned to its staff all the salary cuts - the reductions ranged from 10 to 20 per cent, depending on seniority, and those earning below $2,000 a month were spared - since February this year.

In May, staff were reimbursed for the cuts made in the February to April period. And this week, the firm informed employees it will also repay them the wage cuts for the May to November 2009 period.

Starting Dec 1 this year, Knight Frank has also reinstated their former salaries. In addition, from the same date, the firm has rewarded staff with pay increments generally ranging from about 15 to 20 per cent 'to align our salaries to be competitive with the market', as Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng put it.

JLL, which had reduced base salaries on average by 10 per cent in its Singapore business effective Jan 1, 2009, across staff and directors, will be reimbursing them the cuts for the whole of this year.

'This is based on our Singapore businesses' better-than-expected performance,' said JLL's managing director, Singapore and SE- Asia, Chris Fossick. 'All base salaries will be reinstated in 2010,' he added.

BT understands DTZ has also done away with pay cuts at its Singapore office. Staff are understood to have been informed this week that the pay restoration will be dated back to Nov 1 this year.

Most employees who saw their wages chopped will see full restoration while directors and executive directors will enjoy partial reinstatement.

Pay packets at DTZ were trimmed 10-25 per cent from May 1 this year, with the higher range for executive directors. Those earning $2,000 and less a month were spared.

Colliers International is getting rid of a salary deferral scheme from next month, for most employees.

The scheme, which started on Jan 1, 2009, saw deferral of salaries by between 5 and 20 per cent each month, with the deferred compensation paid back to staff at the end of each quarter depending on the performance of the business unit as well as company for the quarter.

'In addition to doing away with the salary deferral scheme from Jan 1, 2010, salary increments will also be given selectively based on individual staff's performance,' a Colliers International spokeswoman said.

On the hiring front, JLL has recruited about 10 additional employees, three of whom are directors, in various business areas including investment sales, retail, auctions and Singapore residential sales.

'We expect to recruit more staff as we get into 2010. We're approaching 2010 with caution but are hopeful that market conditions will improve as we see a steady recovery in the economy,' Mr Fossick said.

Knight Frank is also embarking on a graduate management scheme under which new grads hired will be put through a familiarisation programme in various business units for three to six months to determine their right fit in the company.

'Previously, individual heads of department were recruiting fresh grads and people tended to be put into silos,' said Mr Tan.

For a start, Knight Frank is likely to recruit six to eight grads under the new scheme.

'Next year should be better; one of our initiatives was to look at salaries and recruiting new talent, while retaining our existing talent. We need to be competitive vis-a-vis not just other property consultants but also stat boards and the civil service. That's a tough act to follow,' he added.

This article was first published in The Business Times.