As employers conduct midyear salary reviews, the annual salary increase many workers have long grown accustomed to is becoming less automatic, according to the Jamaica Employers’ Federation (JEF), which says companies are increasingly tying pay rises to productivity, performance and what businesses can afford rather than simply the passage of another year.

The changing approach comes at a time when many households are preparing for the new school year, a period when annual salary increases and retroactive payments have traditionally provided a welcome boost to help cover the cost of uniforms, books, transportation and other expenses. While workers continue to feel pressure from higher living costs, employers argue that the economic conditions that once made annual cost-of-living adjustments almost routine have fundamentally changed.

In a recent interview, JEF President Wayne Chen told the Jamaica Observer that the country’s wage culture was shaped during an era when inflation regularly eroded workers’ purchasing power, making annual increases almost automatic in many workplaces.