Survey: Pay levels at small firms down by 5%

PAY levels in Ireland’s small firms have fallen by 5% compared to 2008 levels, a new survey by the Small Firms Association (SFA) has found.

The SFA surveyed 1,316 companies with 50 or fewer employees in the manufacturing, distribution, retail and services sectors.

In all, those companies employ almost 39,000 staff and of those:

* 18% of employee grades earn up to €25,000.

* 42% earn between €25,000 and €35,000.

* 30% earn between €35,000 and €45,000.

* 10% earn more than €45,000.

The SFA also looked at the benefits employees in the surveyed firms could expect beyond their pay packet. It found that 67% of the small businesses had sick pay schemes, 60% had pension schemes, 41% had health insurance schemes and 59% of employers contributed to health insurance.

However, the survey found that entry level grades had decreased across almost all job categories.

Overall, average rates of basic pay varied from €405.75 per week for a cleaner to €738.03 per week for an electrician.

The range for salaried employees was from €21,697 for a trainee laboratory technician to €54,158 for a senior engineer. “Nominal wage levels have fallen by about 5% since 2008 and basic pay rates have come back to more reasonable levels than in previous years, which shows that small businesses are reducing their business costs in order to regain competitiveness in difficult trading conditions,” said SFA director Avine McNally.

“While the percentage of companies offering non-pay benefits such as sick pay, pension, health insurance or top-up leave entitlements has fallen, the survey shows that employees and employers are realising the benefits of assessing the overall remuneration package on offer rather than just basic pay.”

She said the concerns regarding labour cost competitiveness will continue for small businesses in 2011, with 48% of small firms expecting their total pay bill to remain at its current level.