More than half of Irish businesses are planning to increase their staff pay during 2011, with the majority of the remaining companies still implementing a pay freeze, a survey suggests.
According to the new survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a higher proportion (60pc) of companies are predicting increases in staff pay in 2012.
For those companies signalling increases, the typical planned pay increase is 2pc in 2011 and 2012, said the authors of the PwC Reward Trends Snapshot Survey 2011.
However, there were some major discrepancies between industries. Unsurprisingly, banking and construction-related companies do not expect to increase salaries in 2012. In the more active ICT and telecommunication sector, companies are more likely to increase their staff’s pay. Medical devices and pharmaceutical companies have also been optimistic on pay levels for the next two years.
Freezes less likely in 2011/2012
Very few organisations expect salary decreases in 2011 or 2012. While salary freezes remain more prevalent for executives and production employees, less than half (47pc) of respondents expect to freeze salaries for these employee groups in 2012.
Despite continuing high unemployment levels, the survey suggests organisations are experiencing salary pressure for certain employee segments. This is primarily driven by skills shortages in roles such as risk and compliance, experienced specialists in technical areas and senior roles in IT, finance and sales.
The survey was undertaken in May 2011 amongst the HR and finance leaders of Ireland’s top companies across all sectors, and had more than 150 participants.
Photo, left to right: Velma Roberts, PwC Reward Advisory Services; Edwin O’Hora, head of HR, United Drug; and Mary O’Hara, partner, PwC HR Services, launching PwC’s 2011 Reward Trends Snapshot Survey
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
