OVER HALF OF companies say that they are planning on giving pay rises this year.

That is according to a new survey by Ibec, the umbrella group for Irish business.

The survey found that 57% of companies plan to increase basic pay in 2015. The average pay increase is set to be 2%, which is the same as 2014. In 2014, 49% of companies increased basic pay, 50% kept pay the same and 1% reduced basic pay.

Further key findings of the survey include:

• The total pay bill, which includes both basic pay changes and changes in numbers of employees, is set to increase in over half (55%) of companies in 2015
• Increases in basic pay and the total pay bill in 2015 are most likely to occur in high-tech sectors, such as medical devices (91% increasing basic pay), pharma-chemical (89%), electronic services/telecoms (81%) and electronics manufacturing (87%)
• Larger companies are more likely to be increasing basic pay in 2015. Three out of five companies with more than 50 employees expect to increase basic pay in 2015, compared with just over half (51%) of respondents with fewer than 50 employees.

Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: “Pay will increase for most in 2015, but not all. The economy is recovering strongly, but we have a long way to go.

“The economy in money terms is still about 6% below its pre-crisis peak and overall price levels are below where they were in summer 2008. This needs to be reflected in pay expectations. Many companies remain in survival mode and simply cannot afford pay rises.

“It is vital that pay demands are moderate, so we don’t lose the hard fought competitive gains of recent years. The focus must be on job creation.”

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