If the thought of asking for a pay rise brings you out in a cold sweat at the best of times, chances are you won’t have approached you boss for a wages boost recently.
A climate of job insecurity, due to increased downsizing and short-term contracts, has meant workers feel asking for a pay rise will count against them — and could even cost them their job, according to an article by This is Money.
There is little encouragement in the press, either. The Telegraph reported how organisations are still implementing pay freezes, with experts warning it would take “a couple of years” before workers could expect to see pay rises equivalent to pre-recession levels.
It also seems that dissatisfied staff are turning to the job pages in the hope of improving their pay packet, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The company’s poll of 1,148 workers found nearly a quarter were actively looking for a new job, or planning to, because they feel their pay is insufficient.
So should employees really give up on the idea of a pay rise? After all, Corinne Mills, managing director of Personal Career Management, pointed out in a recent Guardian article that not all companies are struggling. It’s a subject our experts will be debating in a live Q&A – they will be taking your questions as well – so join us at 1pm on October 14.
