As I predicted in my XpertHR outlook video in early January this year, pay awards have fallen away since the end of 2008 and are currently running at 3%. Our latest rolling quarterly analysis examines pay awards in the three months to the end of January 2009.
A key finding of our research is that there has been a significant increase in the number of pay freezes and pay deferrals made by companies in the first month of the year. We have collected details of pay freezes at 20 organisations, almost two-thirds of the total 33 pay freezes recorded for 2008. As we collect more pay settlement details, we expect the number of pay freezes, and the number of organisations deferring a decision on their pay award to later in the year, to increase.
In addition, we look at the concept of total reward at global engineering consultancy Arup. It has introduced online total reward statements to employees in more than 20 countries, and believes that as well as increasing awareness of benefits availability among employees, they have served as a useful recruitment tool.
Other top stories in this issue include:
Also in this issue we present detailed coverage of three new pay settlements: the corrugated packaging industry, ScottishPower's fleet business and West End theatre support staff. |
