Research from recruitment agency Aspire has found that 32 per cent of workers are looking to change roles in the next 12 months as half of those surveyed report having not received a pay rise in over a year. More than 500 candidates from a range of industries – including marketing, sales, technology and the creative industries – responded to Aspire’s survey which explores trends in the UK jobs market and what’s driving those trends so far this year.
The study reveals that almost half of respondents (45.5 per cent) have not received a pay rise in more than 12 months, while a third (33.5 per cent) of respondents cited salary as the most important job factor. Of those who had received pay rises, 46.7 per cent have had pay rises of between 0-5 per cent, which is below the 10.1 per cent inflation rate and falls well short of the forecasted 18 per cent rate of inflation in 2023.
“The UK continues to grapple with a skills shortage, with the record 1.3m job vacancies evidencing just how difficult employers are finding it to hire the right talent,” said Paul Farrer, chairman and founder of Aspire. “But with half of candidates not having received a pay rise in the last 12 months – and with significant wage growth in the sectors Aspire specialises in – we’re seeing what many candidates see: that they stand to benefit from changing jobs right now.
“With inflation pushing up energy and fuel costs, it makes sense that people are looking for new roles that offer them a competitive salary or a pay rise that can protect them from the rising cost of living,” Farrer adds. “Employers need to be acutely aware and sensitive towards how wider societal trends feed into the motivations of workers. Achieve this and employers won’t just be better placed to attract the right talent – they’ll be able to retain it too.”
