Just 22% of Workers Received A Pay Rise In 2022
New research conducted by recruitment company, Phoenix, has found that just 22% of workers in the UK received a pay rise in 2022.
The survey also found that:-
- 72% of workers believe that their job is secure. This is hardly surprising given the ongoing problems with labour shortages.
- Whilst 28% of workers expect to stay in the same job in 2023, 50% intend to look for a new job.
- 61% of employees are engaged in hybrid working, whilst 22% work remotely full time, with half of that 22% working remotely abroad
- Just 6% of those who worked from home during the pandemic have returned to work at the office full time, with just 15% of workers overall working full time at the office
Commenting upon the pay rise issue and the other findings, the Co-CEO of Phoenix, Ruth Lyndon, stated: "Despite the recent push for a full-time return to the workplace by advocates including Elon Musk, the UK’s workforce has yet to fully follow suit. Hybrid continues to rule, and the advantages of this strategy have been evident. Although a company’s in-person culture is important, many job searchers still find the recognition of each employee’s unique demands to be appealing when examining prospects and deciding to remain with their current employer."
Average Pay Rises In 2022
Meanwhile, other research conducted by CV-Library has found that the average pay rise in 2022 was 6.7%, thereby taking the average salary overall in terms of job adverts posted on their website to £39,697.00. They obtained the figure of 6.7% by comparing the average salary in terms of job adverts posted to the figure at the end of 2021 (£37,171.00). Nevertheless, it is more or less in line with the latest findings by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), who found that pay rises (both with and without bonuses) increased by 6.1% during the period August - October 2022.
Nevertheless, pay rises in the region of 6.1% - 6.7% are well below the current rate of inflation of 10.7%, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Hence, this suggests that there has been a real terms fall in average salaries of around 4% in 2022.
However, whilst CV-Library found that the average pay rise in 2022 was 6.7%, they also found that there were regional variations. Indeed, the region with the highest pay rises was the West Midlands (10.8%). That represents a real terms increase of 0.1%, when taking into account the current rate of inflation (i.e 10.7%).
The only other region of the country in which average pay rises exceeded 10%, was the South East (10.5%). Nonetheless, that represents a real terms fall of 0.2% once the current rate of inflation is factored in.
Commenting upon the findings, the founder and CEO of CV-Library, Lee Biggins, states: "We’re expecting salary levels to be the dominating factor in successful recruitment in 2023. The industries that struggled the most to recruit in 2022 have responded by offering the biggest year on year pay increases. With the purse strings tight for many UK businesses, it’s unreasonable to expect them all to keep pace with the cost-of-living increases of almost +11%. It will be interesting to see where pay levels out during 2023."
High Levels Of Mental Problems Recorded Amongst Small Business Owners
A new survey conducted by Towergate Insurance has found that 67.87% of small business owners admitted that they suffered from mental health problems, at least occasionally, with 9.87% stating that these problems are unrelenting and always present, and 28.40% that they suffer from frequent episodes.
Owners of human resouces companies were found to have the most severe problems with mental health, with 82.05% suffering from such problems, at least occasionally.
Commenting upon the results of the survey, a representative from Towergate, stated: "The ripple effects of the pandemic, Brexit and now the cost of living crisis are bringing about major issues for small businesses. Our survey has not only shed light on the most common threats to small businesses right now, but the impact of these threats too."
