Financial wellbeing | 76% of pay awards in 2023 higher than 2022 levels as firms bid to alleviate cost-of-living pressures

More than three quarters of pay awards in 2023 were higher than 2022 levels, as employers bid to alleviate cost-of-living challenges, new research has found.

The latest data from XpertHR shows that, overall, 76% of pay awards in 2023 were higher than the same group of employees received in 2022, with just one in 10 (12.9%) lower.

However, as the first January pay deals filter through, the XpertHR expectation is that pay awards have peaked from last year, with more than half of 2024 deals expected to be lower than those awarded in 2023.

Sheila Attwood, XpertHR senior content manager, data and HR insights, said: “Around a quarter of pay awards take effect in January each year, and we’re just seeing the first of these come through. As per our earlier prediction, the median award amongst these first agreements is at 5%, slightly down on the figure for 2023 as a whole. Overall, almost half of January 2024 pay deals are lower than the same employees received a year ago.