News & Events

Below-inflation pay rises 'now common'

Date posted:

18th June 2008

Few employees should expect pay rises of more than the rate of inflation in both the public and private sectors, it has been claimed.

Pay increases are now commonly below the rate of inflation, research from the Industrial Relations Service (IRS) has indicated.

A total of 6.1 per cent of pay increases in both the private and public sectors are equal to or above the current rate of inflation of 4.3 per cent.

Benchmarking data from employment intelligence experts IRS demonstrated pay rises are 1.1 per cent below the inflation rate, at 3.2 per cent.

Household funds are expected to be affected by the imbalance, according to Sheila Attwood, pay and benefits editor at IRS.

"Inflation is being pushed upwards by rising fuel and utility bills. But employees are facing even more of a squeeze on their spending as inflation outruns pay rises," she commented.

The research suggests this trend has been seen since May 2006, when both average pay rises and the retail prices index rate of inflation were at 3.3 per cent.

Last year, a survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing revealed that marketing executives felt more optimistic about their pay and promotion prospects compared with the previous year, with salary satisfaction running high for many.

Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment works on behalf of both permanent and freelance agency and in-house candidates across the creative, design and branding, digital, DM, events, experiential, integrated, PR and sales promotion sectors.