UK employees are boosting their savings by investing in shares for the company they work for, according to ifs ProShare.
The latest Sharesave (SAYE) and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) Survey found that more than 1.4 million employees are saving an average of £122.94 a month by investing in their company share schemes.
Following the Government’s decision to raise monthly saving allowances, more than a fifth (20.7%) of employees have increased their contributions to SAYE or SIP. While the total number of employees joining a SAYE scheme also rose to 576,538, from 378,420 in the previous year.
The findings also reveal greater employee retention among companies offering employee share schemes. The percentage of employees choosing to join a five year contract has also risen (up 20% from 17.5%) at the expense of a three year contract (fell from 82.5% to 80%).
Commenting on the findings, Gabbi Stopp, head of employee share ownership at ifs ProShare says:
“These findings once again demonstrate the inherent value of employee share ownership to the economy, to productivity and to levels of savings throughout the UK.
“It is encouraging to see that recent changes introduced by HMRC and campaigned for by ifs ProShare have led to a greater uptake from employees deciding to participate in their companies’ share schemes.
“We will continue to make the case for employee share ownership, for our members and for employees of all companies up and down the country so that more people and the UK economy may continue to benefit from these schemes’ undoubted advantages.”
Amie Filcher is an editorial assistant at HRreview.
