Salaries & Benefits

The 2024 UK Salary and Benefit Guide from Total Jobs described the previous year as “a challenging one for businesses and workers as living costs rose and the market cooled.”

No real surprises there, but the report does highlight some interesting statistics relating to the Banking sector in 2023:

·       Salaries grew by only 2%

·       Job postings declined by 23%

·       Only 55% of workers in the sector reported feeling happy with their pay

·       62% were happy with their benefits, with a bonus the most popular benefit for banking workers

·       The top advertised benefit was career development and progression

The statistics are largely synonymous with an economic downturn, although in contrast with previous downturns we did not see significant job losses.  This suggests a conscious policy of staff retention on the part of employers, who found it hard to attract specific skill sets in the tight labour market of 2022.

Higher salary demands might be a key factor for economic improvement in 2024 – whilst inflation is on the way down, the B of E senses upward salary pressure in the economy and for that reason is hesitant in reducing interest rates.  Only when the latter takes place will we see the improved confidence required to kick start investment and hiring.