No pay rises for 74% of Brits, according to Monster Meter

Pay rises are still ífew and far betweení for British employees according to a recent survey from Monster.co.uk, the leading global career portal on the Web. Over recent years, the UK has witnessed a ítoo many candidates for not enough jobs scenarioí that appears to have affected pay. Under this shadow, Monster.co.uk asked over 2,000 British employees when they last received a pay increase and found some startling results.

The Monster Meter asked: When was the last time you got a pay rise? 2,160 Monster.co.uk site visitors responded revealing the following findings:

35% (701 votes) - One year ago
26% (581 votes) - 3-6 months ago
15% (337 votes) - More than 2 years
14% (311 votes) - I actually took a pay-cut
10% (230 votes) - 2 years ago

The results show that a massive 74% of respondents have not had a pay rise for a year or more. Even more alarmingly, 39% have not had a salary increase for at least two years and more than one in 10 people (14%) said that they actually took a pay cut.

The outlook may look dim, but there is hope on the horizon according to Joe Slavin, Managing Director, Monster.co.uk: We believe 2005 will be the Year of the Job Seeker and employees will be in an excellent position to ask their bosses for a pay rise. The UK economy is witnessing the highest employment rates since records began and we expect that employers will start to see a íWar for Talentí, so candidates could find themselves with a very strong case to negotiate pay rises.

The high number of employees who have taken pay cuts may suggest that employers are suffering the effects of the economic slowdown. Alternatively, there are indications that UK workers have been willing to take pay cuts to save their jobs or for a change of lifestyle with a new job offering a more fulfilling or less stressful environment.

In fact, a recent Monster poll, conducted in July 2004, asked over 1,500 Monster.co.uk site visitors if they would take a pay cut for less stress. The majority of respondents admitted that they would take a salary cut of up to 15% for a less stressful job, while 17% of participants said they would consider taking more than a 15% cut in their salary.

For tips on how to negotiate a pay rise, candidates should log on to Monster.co.uk and click on íCareer Adviceí.

The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.co.uk visitors from 6th December 2004 to 4th January 2005. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers site and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge usersí opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. Anyone interested in voting in Monsterís current online poll may do so by logging onto www.monster.co.uk.