UK IDR: Employers offer record pay awards in three months to April
As per the latest UK Incomes Data Research (IDR) update cited by Reuters, “The median pay settlement awarded by major British employers had increased to 5.6% in the three months to April, the highest in records dating back to 2005 and up from 5.0% in the three months to the end of March.”
The news also states that British employers agreed pay increases averaging 5.6% in the three months to April, reflecting high consumer price inflation and a hefty rise in the minimum wage, putting further pressure on the Bank of England (BOE) to keep raising interest rates.
“Median pay awards for private-sector workers increased to 5.8% in the same period, while public-sector pay awards averaged 5.0%,” adds Reuters.
The news also quotes Zoe Woolacott, a senior researcher at the UK IDR saying that the IDR’s measure of median pay rises for both the private and public sector had been steadily increasing from an already above-average 4.0% in April last year due to the surge in the cost of living and inflation.
On the contrary, Reuters also states findings from a separate survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) showing British workers were feeling less optimistic about work than in 2019 and considered their jobs to be more “transactional” and just a means to earn money compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.