77% of companies here plan to increase pay in 2020, a new survey from employers’ group Ibec shows.
The survey of over 400 firms was carried out in advance of Ibec’s HR Leadership summit today.
The average increase is expected to be of the order of 2.5%, similar to last year’s survey.
22% of companies plan to leave pay as is with just 1% saying they intend to cut pay next year, the survey also reveals.
By sector, the survey shows that 91% of high tech companies are planning a pay rise, while 80% of other manufacturing firms and 78% of distribution businesses.
Ibec’s survey also said that 42% of companies are planning to hire more workers next year, which is marginally down on this year.
The employers group said the decrease is consistent with its forecast of a slowdown in recruitment into the end of 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, 20% of companies said they are preparing for gender pay gap reporting, while 19% intend to top up parents’ leave entitlements.
Ibec also noted that transferable, soft-skills and employability skills are identified as the top training investments for 2020.
Leadership/people management is identified as a priority by 82% of companies surveyed, followed by technical skills (63%) and coaching/mentoring (57%).
Ibec’s director of Employer Relations, Maeve McElwee, said that plans by employers to increase basic pay in 2020 reflects the fact that the Irish economy is continuing to grow through a period of great uncertainty due to Brexit and international trade tensions.
She said the economy is now close to full employment, with moderate inflation and the strongest increases in real living standards since the early 2000’s.
“For business, we need to be careful that our cost base does not undermine our competitiveness which is already being impacted elsewhere by other factors, most notably infrastructure shortages,” Maeve McElwee said.
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