Two thirds of companies expect to raise pay by 2013

Nearly two thirds of firms in Ireland expect to give their staff a rise by 2013, according to research carried out by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The PwC survey, which was carried out in February after speaking to 150 participants from the human resources and finance sections of some of Ireland’s top companies, found good news for Ireland’s employees.

PwC human resource services partner, Mary O’Hara, said companies were beginning to focus on retaining staff by increasing their pay again.

“After a period of pay cuts and freezes, companies are once again focusing on the role of remuneration in attracting and retaining key talent.

“Almost two thirds of participants in the survey are forecasting a return to pay increases in 2013; however these increases are focused on specific roles and levels within these organisations and not across the board.”

Management and professional employees were most likely to see salary increases, while freezes remain in place for executives and production employees.

Half of the survey respondents expected salary freezes to continue in 2012, with but only 40% of respondents expected the freeze in salaries to continue into 2013.

According to the survey, very few organisations anticipate salary decreases in 2012 and none of the participants forecasted salary decreases in 2013.