As we noted on Friday, the headline whole economy pay award is currently pitched at an all-time low of 1.3%, according to latest data from pay specialists at Industrial Relations Services (IRS) for XpertHR. A breakdown by broad industry sector reveals that the main downward influence on the IRS headline pay award is from extremely weak private sector pay deals.
Our latest data show the lowest median ever recorded for basic pay deals in the private sector, at 0.9% in the three months to 31 May 2009. This is down from 1% for the three months ending 30 April 2009.
Indeed, pay freezes or cuts now account for two-fifths (40%) of private sector pay awards.
While public sector pay awards remain comparatively stable for now, the CIPD argues that public sector unions now face a stark choice between higher pay deals or fewer redundancies (our colleagues on personneltoday.com report) as the full impact of the recession hits public sector employers.
CIPD chief economist John Philpott comments:
If public sector workers persist in saying 'we want bigger pay', the consequence will be that there are fewer jobs. It's a choice workers have to make. HR has to put that message across clearly.
- Has your organisation recently carried out an annual pay review? If so, and if it has now been settled, please get in touch so that we can add your organisation's pay award to the IRS database.
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