Real wages falling at the “fastest rate” on record

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“[R]eal wages are falling at the fastest rate since current records began” in 2000 warns General Secretary Frances O’Grady.

ONS figures published last week show wages are rising, but not as fast as prices, resulting in a record 2.8 percent fall in regular pay in real terms.

The national employee survey shows how this rising cost of living is impacting employees across the UK with Leicester having the highest percentage (53%) of employees considering a new role as a direct result of increasing costs, according to a survey by CareerWallet.

Leicester is closely followed by London (49%) and Birmingham (44%) of employees looking to move roles to increase income to help pay for rising bills.

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The survey went on to show that employees in certain regions are not as concerned about increased costs with Plymouth the least impacted with only 18 percent considering new roles and Glasgow (22%) and Oxford (24%) also less affected compared to other regions.

 

Employee movement

The national survey from the leading tech firm shows how many employees are considering moving roles across the UK at the moment.

A staggering 39 percent are either actively looking or considering moving which means thousands of businesses are set to lose staff.

The results highlight the importance of businesses offering pay rises that align with inflation to ensure more employees stay in their current roles.

Craig Bines, CEO at The CareerWallet Group, commented, “At CareerWallet we process millions of jobs a day and this allows us to quickly see how the job market is being impacted on a daily basis.

 

Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.

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