British workers are set to enjoy a ‘boom’ in real-terms pay increases in 2015, according to Towers Watson. The study reckons that average UK pay rises of 3%, coupled with record low annual (CPI) inflation of 0.2%, will outstrip those enjoyed by workers in all other major European economies. The survey, primarily covering private sector companies, was conducted in July 2015. Approximately 8,000 sets of responses were received from companies across 110 countries worldwide.
Paul Richards, head of Towers Watson’s Data Services Practice for EMEA, said:
‘In 2015 many employees will feel the tide has turned. A combination of decent pay rises and record-low inflation means that British employees are starting to see a real rise in their income after years of frustration. The outlook in the rest of Western Europe is more muted in terms of pay rises, but in all of these countries pay rises are set to significantly outstrip inflation, which has not always been the case over the last few years.
‘Even if inflation rises to 1.5% next year as expected, this is still an historically low level. By comparison, between 2011 and 2013 we were experiencing annual inflation of between 2.5% to 4.5% and pay rises that barely matched or were significantly below, so 2016 is still expected to see a healthy real-terms growth in wages.