Wage rises 'may take a while'

It may be a while before the UK sees wages rise again and pay freezes thaw, particularly in the retail sector, according to one sector expert.

Stephen Overell, associate director of the Work Foundation, said it is fairly likely to be a long-term trend as although the recession is over and growth is returning, it may take a while for this to "feed through" into pay packets.

However, companies will also be "wary" about losing people from having extended pay freezes, so there is still the chance that some based in the retail sales recruitment field will boost staff pay in order to appear more benevolent, the expert suggested.

Mr Overell added: "The risk is always that someone will move onto a better job, so they will be nervous about maintaining it [for] too long."

His comments follow the publication of research by the British Retail Consortium, which suggested that next year's increase in the national minimum wage must be no more than 1.7 per cent to help retailers continue their vital job-creating capacity.

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Posted by Nikki Barrister

Filed: 10-11-2010