ONS figures published last week show that salaries are rising, but not in keeping with prices. This has resulted in a 2.8 per cent fall in pay in real terms.
The TUC has said that pay increases are failing to keep up with rising inflation, leading to another year of "wages gloom" and adding that it could be a "hammer blow to morale" - prompting staff to quit.
Francis O’Grady - General Secretary of the TUC - warned:
“Real wages are falling at the fastest rate since current records began in 2000.”
According to a survey by The Career Wallet - a leading Recruitment and Employment Technology Company - the present rising cost of living is affecting employees across the UK differently. Leicester has witnessed the highest percentage with 53 per cent of employees considering a new role as a direct result of increasing costs.
Leicester is closely followed by London with 49 per cent and Birmingham with 44 per cent of employees needing to move jobs to increase their income to help pay for rising bills.
The survey went on to find that employees in certain other regions are not affected to this degree by the increased costs. Plymouth is the least impacted with only 18 per cent of employees considering new roles; Glasgow with 22 per cent and Oxford with 24 per cent are also less affected compared to other regions.
The national survey shows how many UK employees are presently considering moving roles. A high 39 per cent are either actively looking or considering moving, which means thousands of businesses are set to lose staff. This highlights the importance of businesses offering pay rises that align with inflation.
The survey went on to show that a further 12 per cent of all employees are considering asking for a pay rise in the next few months - and only 25 per cent of all employees haven’t considered changing their role or asking for a pay rise.
When considering age, the survey found that the under 30s have been most impacted with 35 per cent in the process of looking for a new role.
Craig Bines - CEO at The Career Wallet Group - commented:
“At Career Wallet we process millions of jobs a day and this allows us to quickly see how the job market is being impacted on a daily basis. Our national employee survey has highlighted how UK employees are already being impacted by the rise in the cost of living and are actively looking to counter this by pursuing a new role or a pay increase and it is important that all employers are aware of this and act quickly to keep their talented people in their businesses.”
