More than third of employers say salaries to increase in next three months

More than a third of Irish employers say employee salaries will increase in the next three months, according to a new survey.

The research, conducted by Hays Ireland, found over half of employer say these pay rises are influenced by the rising cost of living.

In the year to date, Irish inflation hit 9.6 per cent and the cost of living has placed a renewed focus on employee salaries and employee benefits.

The research found 45 per cent of employers claim to have provided employee pay increases in the last three months, meanwhile, 55 per cent say salaries have remained unchanged.

The research suggests that many employers have moved to provide other supports to employees, outside of the traditional salary compensation.

Since the covid-19 pandemic, 36 per cent of employers plan to hire for fully remote roles, with two thirds of these employers suggesting this is an entirely new policy.

Amongst employers making new hires, one in five (21 per cent) are currently offering signing on bonuses to new employees.

While 38 per cent of employers are more likely to make a counter-offer to employees than they were six months ago.

The research found employers are increasingly prepared to make counter offers to keep valued employees. Overall, 45 per cent of employers sometimes make counter offers to keep staff, while 42 per cent claim to have a policy of not making counter offers in any circumstance.

Meanwhile, the remaining 13 per cent say they always make a counter-offer as part of their strategy of retaining staff.

Some 16 per cent of employers are providing free access to financial advisor services, 8 per cent are offering supermarket discounts, 6 per cent are distributing household utility vouchers and 5 per cent are facilitating employee loans.

Maureen Lynch, director at Hays Ireland said: “The Irish recruitment landscape is constantly evolving. This places an acute expectation on employers to evolve their employee offerings and recruitment strategies in parallel.

“One of the key challenges to emerge in 2022 is the rising cost of living. This trend is not specific to Ireland, however, Irish inflation rates are currently running above the European average.

“Irish-based employers have responded with a range of measures, including salary increases, a renewed emphasis on fully remote roles and an unprecedented rate of counter-offering to potentially departing staff.”

The survey was carried out in July 2022 and received 690 responses from Irish-based employers and employees.