Employers could have a fight on their hands to hold onto their staff this year – six in ten (60percent ) workers could potentially change jobs in 2023 and almost one in three (30percent ) are definitely considering it.
These are the findings the Excel Recruitment Employee Feedback Survey (Appendix ), released in tandem with Excel Recruitment Annual Salary Guide 2023 (Appendix ), which show that in terms of salaries across the board, the recruitment specialists are seeing a percentage swing of increase in the median of three to 11 percent.
The new research has revealed that while this time last year, 65 percent of employers signalled salary increases in the upcoming year, this has risen to 71 percent 12 months later, as most employers say pay rises are definitely being considered.
Barry Whelan, CEO of Excel Recruitment spoke of the publication of the new research,
“The ‘Great Resignation’ of 2022 has massively affected employers, especially when organisations urged workers to return to their respective offices. It led to companies increasingly having open positions, which caused disruptions in their daily operations. The remaining employees needed to compensate for the lack of manpower leading to immense workloads and also driving employee burnout which affected their overall performance and productivity.
As well as driving up wages, high employee expectations are forcing more employers to offer a hybrid working option. The desire for remote work and the ease of applying for new roles in a remote setting will continue to drive churn in the labour market. Where possible, hybrid working models were introduced across most industries and have become an expectation rather than a benefit.”
The Salary Guide
Excel Recruitment are reporting salary increases of up to 11pc in 2022 particularly in the areas of professional services, commercial, accounting and finance, where pay rises of between 6pc and 11pc were recorded. Salary increases were also strong in retail, with rises of between 3pc and 8pc recorded. Wage growth in the industrial sector, such as for forklift drivers and heavy goods vehicle (HGV ) drivers, was between 3pc and 5pc.
Excel Recruitment say that the staffing situation in hospitality is “quite dire” and the increases that are being paid to attract new hires and retain current staff are putting businesses under severe pressure.
Sector highlights from the Excel Recruitment Salary Guide 2023 include:
Some of the biggest staff shortages in accounting and finance are in the junior office support roles.
Wage growth has also been strong in the grocery retail sector, particularly amongst those working in fresh food.
There has been a real shift in focus in the retail sector over the last year
Excel Recruitment are reporting that unlike 2022, it is likely that salaries will level off within the construction and engineering industries in 2023 – due to an expected slowdown in inflation this year, the staff shortages in those sectors not been as acute as in 2022, and construction projects in the pipeline likely to be slow to get off the ground.
The Workers of 2023
The Excel Recruitment survey of 1800 workers nationwide an insight into worker expectations and sentiment in 2023:
More than half (55 percent ) of workers expect a pay rise in 2023. Only a small fraction (15 percent ) of workers don’t anticipate any pay increase at all.
Almost one in ten (eight percent ) job seekers said they had quit an in-person job to look for a work-from-home position.
Outside of salary motivations, the second biggest concern for workers when it comes to their job is career progression - with 21 percent of workers stating that moving-up-the-ranks is the most important thing to them in job, which was three times the number who cited flexibility as their key priority. Only one in twenty (five percent ) cited location as their top priority when choosing a job – though interestingly, less than one in three (29 percent ) would be prepared to relocate for a job.
36 percent of those polled gave a flat ‘no’ when asked if they would be prepared to relocate for a job while 35 percent were uncertain
