Senior staff ‘resigned to wage restrictions’

Many senior staff member understand pay freezes are an inevitable consequence of the recession, one employment spokesperson has claimed.

Although they may not be happy getting any extra money in their pay packet, they realise it is going to happen, says a Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) representative.

“I don’t think anybody is ever happy to take a pay freeze,” the industry voice said:

“The feedback we are getting is that people understand … that unfortunately there are a lot of people out there losing their jobs.”

Meanwhile, Mercer’s recent quarterly salary indicator found that 60 per cent of respondents said they intended to ensure pay for executives remains static, while 51 per cent are doing the same for senior management.

Of the HR directors questioned, almost half (47 per cent) said their organisations had already put a salary freeze in place, while 15 per cent were considering doing so.

However, 39 per cent said it was not currently on their to-do list.