Between a fifth and a quarter of wage settlements in the first few months of this year have involved pay freezes as hard-pressed employers have sought to curb costs during the recession. Pay surveys by the Labour Research Department and Incomes Data Services reveal a widening gap between businesses that can afford to pay more and those that are struggling, the FT said. A separate report  by the Hay Group consultancy revealed about 37 per cent of the UK companies surveyed were cutting headcount last month, nearly double the share in November. UK companies also reported much smaller average base salary increases  of 1 per cent compared with 2.8 per cent worldwide, Hay Group found.

This entry was posted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 4:59 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with employment, UK. Edit this entry.