Dive Brief:
- Nearly 70% of employees said they didn’t receive a salary bump in the last six months, an increase from the 65% who said the same a year earlier, according to a new report from global recruitment company Morgan McKinley.
- Despite that, nearly half are optimistic that they will get a raise within the next year, the survey of 2,799 workers found.
- Yet, 48% of the 214 employers surveyed said their organizations increased pay, and nearly three-quarters said salary increases were planned for specific roles over the next year.
Dive Insight:
Even increases in pay may not be enough to reduce financial pressures on workers, a June report from Glassdoor Economic Research showed. Early career workers are experiencing negative wage growth as a result of inflationary pressures, per the report.
Morgan McKinley found that more than half of employers kept offers for new hires flat compared to the previous year.
“The findings indicate that employees experience pay stagnation more acutely than employer data alone would imply,” the report said.
That can lead to worker attrition, the report found, with 67% of employers noting employee turnover in the past six months and 19% citing perceptions of pay as a factor.
Morgan McKinley suggested that companies “increase transparency around pay plans and workforce decisions, supported by targeted actions to help close the perception gap and build employee confidence.”
Pay isn’t the only factor affecting retention. More than half of employees surveyed said mental health and well-being support plays into their decision; 71% of employers agreed.
Seemingly, employers are taking action. Sixty-three percent said their companies have upped investment in well-being or mental health support in the past year.
While pay and benefits factor into job quality, workers also said having an interest in their work is predictive of their impression of overall job quality, a June U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report found.
