Two-thirds of respondents expect pay to rise

Nearly two-thirds of accounting, business support and financial services employee respondents expect pay to rise in 2012, according to two salary surveys conducted by Morgan McKinley.

The Accounting, finance and support UK 2012 survey was conducted in November 2011 among 350 HR and operational managers working with accountancy, finance and business support in the UK.

The findings include:

  • Two-thirds of respondents are expecting salaries to increase in 2012, either in their team (48%) or elsewhere in the business (14%).
  • Salary rises are expected by most, with 99% of those anticipating the increase will be no more than 10%.
  • Over half (58%) of respondents anticipate that bonuses will be up to 20% of base salaries in 2012.

The Financial services London 2012 survey surveyed 372 employees across London’s financial services sector.

It found:

  • One-third (35%) of respondents expect salaries to rise by up to 20%, while half expect them to remain the same.
  • The dominant reason for salary rises is the attraction and retention of key staff.

Chris Leeson, chief operations officer at Morgan McKinley Accounting, Finance and Support UK, said: “Overall, the last 12 months have seen employers focused on elements such as flexible benefits and work-life balance to attract staff, rather than purely remuneration.”

Andrew Evans, chief operations officer at Morgan McKinley Financial Services UK, added: “The last 12 months have been mixed for global financial markets and consequently hiring levels in the London financial services sector have suffered. As a result, remuneration levels have fluctuated.

“We hope to see a conclusion to the Eurozone crisis and clarity on regulation, bringing greater stability to the financial services sector this year, and subsequently a clearer picture for remuneration trends should emerge.”

Read more articles on remuneration and salaries