Workers prioritise job security over pay rises
New research suggests many employees are reluctant to ask for meaningful pay rises, with some people seemingly more content to value their job security as the uncertainty over Brexit continues.
Despite record levels of employment in the UK, and unemployment being at its lowest since 1975, wage growth across the board remains sluggish.
However, much more significant wage rises are being reported in some sectors and for some roles. The low levels of unemployment have led to many companies having great difficulty in finding skilled candidates, with so few people choosing to move jobs at present.
In another recent study, 90% of the 400 companies surveyed by The Open University said they were having difficulties in finding suitably skilled staff. 56% said that they had increased the advertised salary for a role at some stage in the last 12 months. The average increase in the annual salary offered was £4,150 for roles in small and medium sized companies and £5,575 for larger companies.
53% of respondents said they had been forced to recruit a less skilled candidate as they simply couldn’t find someone with the perfect skill set. The same proportion (53%) said they had invested more in training to bring new employees up to the required level.
This all means that, if you are very experienced in your field, and have an excellent skill set, the best way of getting a meaningful increase in your salary might not be to stay with your current employer. Instead, a significant salary increase could be achieved by landing a role with another company, one which may be experiencing a shortage of suitably qualified applicants.
Accountancy and finance, marketing and HR are amongst the sectors where employers would love to receive more applications for their vacancies.
So, if you’re seeking to move on, whether or not your main motivation is a big pay rise, then talk to KennedyPearce today.