UK manufacturing median pay awards stand at 3%, exactly the same figure recorded this time last year, according to Personnel Today’s sister title, IRS Employment Review.
With a recent levelling off in economic activity, together with an anticipated dip in RPI inflation, IRS believes that the manufacturing sector is unlikely to be a source of heightened pay pressures in the coming months. However, with the manufacturing sector as a whole, there are some variations in pay awards.
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Other key findings include:
- Pensions remain high on the bargaining agenda, with trade unions continuing to resist employer moves to downgrade provision
- Average rise worth just over 3%. The average manufacturing pay rise was worth 3.16%. Excluding pay freezes, awards ranged in value between 1.5% and 7.8%
- Manufacturing keeps pace with services. Looking over a slightly longer period (May 2004-May 2005), the median manufacturing pay award, pitched at 3%, mirrors that in the service sector, and for the economy as a whole.
IRS pay and benefits editor, Sheila Attwood said: “The generally sluggish performance of the UK’s manufacturing base in recent months has, unsurprisingly, put something of a brake on the pace of pay bargaining in this key sector. And the upward drift in the value of awards noted this time last year has generally come to an end.”
