Cost of living | Half of UK firms have denied staff pay rises, data shows

Britain’s workers seeking pay rises and extra help from their organisations are often coming away empty handed, research by the Chartered Management Institute has shown.

Whilst half of companies are providing basic pay awards, 48% reported that no raises are being offered or that they were unaware of plans to do so. The research also showed that 1 in 3 private sector managers is concerned about the financial strength of their organisation.

CMI’s findings come as inflation hit a 30 year high of 7% in March. Managers report that basic pay awards however are reported to be on average only 2.8%, leaving pay awards significantly lagging behind inflation. Of those increases, pay awards in the private sector are higher than public sector, at 3.2% and 2.4% respectively.

The research also showed that a third of managers have seen an increase in requests from their direct reports for pay raises, above basic pay awards. A third of managers themselves are thinking about requesting a pay rise, above basic pay awards, to meet the rising costs of living.