Annual salary growth at joint lowest level since 2015, fresh report suggests

As a higher level of inflation hits the UK economy, the effects are trickling down into the labour market and taking their toll on wage growth. UK salaries have struggled to match up to their September 2014 high of £34,695. March 2017’s figures are down 3.8% annually to currently reside at £32,525.

Despite the strain on year-on-year growth, UK salaries are continuing to increase month-on-month and have steadily increased over the past four months. In similar fashion, UK vacancies have reached a four-month high, as total figures for April 2017 are currently at 1,156,701.

According to recent forecasts in the International Monetary Fund’s Economic World Outlook, global growth this year is likely to reach up to 3.5%, above its 3.1% prediction in 2016. Therefore, vacancy and salary figures are currently performing at an expected level.

A separate survey of 600 firms by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) suggests more than two in five employers who had difficulty recruiting candidates said they had increased the salary on offer.

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, explains:
“With inflation on the rise and wage growth stalling, workers are having to make their money stretch further. The minor monthly increases in salary and vacancies are not a lot to shout about but they may now be consistent and reliable enough to bring some confidence back into the labour market. There is no harm in remaining optimistic as recent reports have already shown that employers are beginning to up pay promises to tempt in top talent – good news for job hunters.”

“The recent Confederation of British Industry report mentioned that the UK’s competitive advantage depends on innovation and technology – and there is no doubt that this holds true as we struggle to overtake 2015 salary and vacancy levels.”

Time and Attendance Systems from Time and Attendance UK – personnel management system that streamline activity for HR departments

Every company facing significant challenges and changes in its organizational structure should first and foremost implement a very solid and reliable workforce management system, capable of coping with the challenges of adding and removing so many employees from the firm’s ranks.

Time & Attendance UK is a market leader in Time and Attendance and Access Control solutions, offering companies an extensive set of tools enabling them to manage their workforces in a very effective manner.

Our top-range smart card-based clocking stations offer a very high level of functionality, supporting features such as job booking, job costing, labour hours analysis and security management including quality CCTV surveillance playback.

If you would like to find out more about the workforce management systems from Time and Attendance UK, just contact us, we would be more than happy to answer all your questions and queries.