The majority of workers, both in the public and private sectors expect a pay rise in 2010, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) annual Pay Survey.
In the survey, conducted by YouGov of 2,500 employees, 57% of public sector workers expect a salary rise that will be the same or higher than it was in 2009.
A similar number of private sector workers (60%) also expect a higher or the same rise as in 2009. This is to be expected, however, with half (51%) – compared with 17% in the public sector – suffering a pay freeze this year and 7% – compared with 2% in the public sector – actually getting a pay cut.
Over the next 12 months, private sector workers predict that their wages will increase by 3%, while public sector forecast them to go up by 2%.
However, while the number of private sector workers affected by pay freezes is expected to tumble, 27% still believe that their pay will not go up in 2010.
By contrast, 20% of public sector workers don’t think that they’ll see a pay increase in 2010.
Charles Cotton, CIPD reward adviser, said: “While most private sector workers predict that they will get a pay rise next year, over one-in-four do not think that this will be the case. [These are] focused in hard hit economic sectors such as construction and manufacturing.”
Referring to the 1% pay cap on public sector pay announced in the pre-Budget report last month, Cotton added: “Public sector workers are clearly not sensing that the pay storm clouds are gathering. It looks like 2010 will prove to be the last hurrah of this gilded age”.
The survey also asked respondents to predict whether they would receive a bonus in 2010.
Of the three in 10 employees (29%) that work for firms that have a cash bonus (39% in the private sector and 11% in the public sector):
- A quarter (26%) don’t think that they’ll get a bonus in 2010
- A similar number (25%) believe that they’ll get the same sized bonus as in 2009
- One-fifth (18%) predict that they’ll get a lower bonus than in 2009
- Just over a fifth (22%) predict that the bonus will be larger than in 2009
Cotton continued: “Given that just over a third (34%) of workers did not get a bonus in 2009, it’s not surprising that a lower percentage (26%) predict this will happen in 2010.
“This indicates that workers believe that the economy will improve in 2010 and hopeful their employer will be able to share the success with them.”
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