Pay Rises Hit Lows
29 / Jun / 2009
Pay rises for British workers have hit their lowest in almost four decades as more firms freeze pay to save costs, a survey showed last Friday. The survey showed the median pay rise in the three months to the end of May came in at 1.3 percent, the same as April's revised figure and the lowest since it started collecting pay data in 1971. British firms have slashed thousands of jobs as the nation endures its worst downturn in decades, propelling the jobless rate to its highest in more than ten years. Some firms have asked staff to take unpaid leave or pay cuts to protect jobs. Of the 232 pay awards covered by the May data, 35 percent were pay freezes or pay cuts, up from 32 percent in the April survey. Compared with 2008, 81 percent of basic pay rises were lower, 11 percent were the same and 8 percent were higher.