Why is pay spiralling?
Last week, accounting network @MGI Worldwide invited me to speak and host panels in Asia, Europe & the Americas… in one day. Interestingly, almost every market reported challenges with keeping talent and escalating pay rises. In interviews I’ve heard of people being offered pay rises 50% or more for senior jobs.
At the London Stock exchange a few weeks ago, I was on a panel with David Ellis, an expert in pay and rewards. I asked him:
‘What is going on out there?’
💰 Pay is rising—but the data is clouded by:
extraordinary spikes in some areas (eg. cyber security and digital marketing)
the end of furlough schemes
the reopening of businesses closed during lockdowns
⬆️ If pre-pandemic average pay increases were 2-3% for an organisation, they may now be 6-7%—but distributed unevenly. A small number of roles will get disproportionate rises, most won’t.
🤷♀️ Some employers are paying more to compensate for a lack of clarity about ways of working:
how often people need to be in the office
what the working hours are
who their team will be
✈️ The risk of off-shoring roles due to remote (which we’d expect to lead to pay going down) are real, but shouldn’t be over-stated: roles that are ‘humanistic’ or relationship-centred, mostly won’t move overseas.
🌱 For anyone looking at a new role, David warns candidates to be careful what they jump into, no matter the pay. Don’t overlook what you’re giving up. But if you are ready to move, this is the moment to throw yourself into negotiating.
🕺 Churn, baby churn
The world's biggest recruitment firm, Randstad, has launched data showing that 69% of employees are confident about finding another role. Their marketing director, Adam Nicoll, warns:
“Companies that haven’t nailed down the ‘why’ of what they do, what motivates people, nor have the wallet to win the war for talent, will languish and shed staff by the hour in this market.”
Next week:
After Zuckerberg’s big announcement, I’ll be hosting The Idiot’s Guide to the Metaverse.
Christine
