Public sector, construction, hospitality hit hardest
Employees in the United Kingdom are still feeling the pressure as pay levels fall below the current cost of living, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Fifty-eight per cent of employees have received a pay freeze since January, while around six per cent have had their base pay cut and only 28 per cent have received a pay raise, according to CIPD’s summer 2011 Employee Outlook: Focus on Pay, which surveyed more than 2,000 people across the U.K.
Employees in the public sector are being hit the hardest with over three-quarters (77 per cent) receiving a pay freeze (compared to 52 per cent and 55 per cent in the private and voluntary sector), four per cent a pay cut (compared to seven per cent and eight per cent in the private and voluntary sector) and 13 per cent a pay increase (compared to 32 per cent and 30 per cent in the private and voluntary sector), found the survey.
“We will see some increase in the number of private sector workers receiving a pay award in the second half of 2011, especially in the retail, catering and hotel sectors, as the increase to the national minimum wage comes into effect in October,” said Charles Cotton, CIPD’s performance and reward adviser. "However, given that the busiest time for pay awards in the private sector is between January and May, most of these workers who have not received a pay rise so far will now probably not get one at all.”
Within the private sector, those most likely to have seen their base pay go up in the first six months of this year work in manufacturing (48 per cent) and finance (46 per cent). Those working in hotels and restaurants (19 per cent) and construction (25 per cent) are the least likely to have seen their salaries increase, found the survey.
Employees working for micro employers are the least likely to have received a pay rise (11 per cent), followed by small (29 per cent), medium (36 per cent) and large (33 per cent) organizations.
And those aged 25 to 34 are the most likely to have received a pay raise (31 per cent), while those aged 55 and over are the least likely (23 per cent), found the survey.
