Pay Increases Planned by More Than One in Four Employers - REC

More than a quarter of employers (28%) plan to give workers a pay rise this year and a further 40 percent are still considering increasing wages according to the latest JobsOutlook survey from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

Asked whether they anticipated increasing wages of current employees at their business or organisation this year:
• 11% say all staff are expected to get a pay rise
• 17% say some staff will get a pay rise
• 14% say they didn’t plan to increase anyone’s pay
• 40% haven’t decided
• 7% don’t know
• 11% won’t say

The REC’s chief executive Kevin Green says:

“Employers are more able to find cash to reward staff as the economy picks up and confidence grows. We also know starting salaries for new joiners and hourly pay rates for temporary staff have increased sharply at the start of 2014. With inflation coming down, this all points to the squeeze on peoples’ pockets beginning to ease.

“Another factor for employers will be the growing scarcity of skilled candidates. As that becomes more apparent in a range of sectors from white collar IT and management roles, to drivers and caterers, businesses will be keen to do what they can to hang on to the staff they have.”

The survey also reveals that more employers plan to increase their workforce over the next quarter and next 12 months.

Asked about their plans for permanent headcounts in both the short and medium term:

• 76% employers say they will make more offers of permanent work in the next 3 months, up 7 points from February survey.
• 81% say they will directly employ more staff over the next 4-12 months, up 9 points since February.

When planning about future use of agency workers:

• 48% employers predict they will increase their use of temps over the next 3 months, up 1 point from last month.
• 48% say they will engage more agency workers over the next 4-12 months, up 2 points from last month.

 
Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The REC’s JobsOutlook tracking survey reports the responses of 600 employers questioned about their hiring intentions over the next quarter and the next year. Respondents are drawn from across the public, private and non-profit sector, and from across a range of industries and sizes of organisation.

2. The March 2014 issue of REC/KPMG Report on Jobs found that:
- Starting salaries for permanent roles, which have been increasing month on month since May 2012, increased at the sharpest rate since October 2007. 
- Hourly pay rates for temps, which have been increasing month on month since September 2012, rose at the fastest rate in 7 months.

3. For more information, contact the REC Press Office on 0207 009 2157/2192 or pressoffice@rec.uk.com. An ISDN line is available for interviews on 0207 021 0584.

4. REC members can download JobsOutlook for free from the REC website: www.rec.uk.com/jobsoutlook. Non-members can subscribe to the monthly report for £99 per year.

5. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is the professional body for the recruitment industry. The REC represents 3,506 corporate members who have branches across all regions of the UK. In addition, the REC represents 4,744 individual members within the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP). All members must abide by a code of professional practice. Above all, the REC is committed to raising standards and highlighting excellence throughout the industry. Find out more on www.rec.uk.com.