4.5% pay rise predicted for Irish workers

IRISH workers can expect pay rises of approximately 4.5% next year, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resources.

The survey found that pay will beat inflation next year by about 2%.

Irish inflation is expected to be approximately 2.5% next year, according to the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Projected pay increases will be 4.5%, 2% above inflation in Ireland.

The salary increases relate to the average of five levels of employees. These are

operations staff, clerical staff, technical staff, managers and senior executives.

Pay will increase by 5.9% on average globally, 1.9% above inflation, according to Mercer, which surveyed companies in 60 countries.

According to the survey, British workers may get an increase of 3.6%. This is a fraction less than their US counterparts, whose wages will probably climb by 3.7%, according to Mercer.

The consultancy forecasts wage rises of 3.7% in Italy and 3% in France compared with the inflation rate forecast of 2.4% by the European Central Bank.

Wage inflation in China is prompting concern that rising production costs will lead to increased prices for electronics, clothing and other products for export.

The 7.2% increase in Chinese wages, projected by Mercer, compares with a forecast inflation rate of 2.2% for the country.

Latvia and Paraguay will probably see the fastest wage inflation next year. Mercer projects a pay rise of 11.1% in Latvia and 10.8% in Paraguay.

In Germany wages may decline in real terms, with Mercer forecasting an increase of 2.3%.