Some 18% of respondents plan to make changes to their reward package to mitigate the impact of the national living wage, according to research by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Accenture.
The CBI/Accenture employment trends survey, which is based on responses from 342 employers, also found that more than half (53%) of respondents intend to give their staff a pay award next year at or above the retail price index (RPI) rate of inflation.
The study also found:
- Half (50%) of respondents simply updated their HR policies to reflect the implementation of shared parental leave rights.
- Over three-quarters (79%) of respondents have multi-skilled their workforce to improve organisations’ productivity and capacity to adapt, and 73% give their employees flexibility over location for work.
- 43% of respondents plan to expand their workforce next year.
Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said: “The UK’s labour market has continued to outperform expectations with businesses delivering jobs in every region of the UK.
“The government must be careful not to sacrifice prosperity for political expediency by saddling businesses with costs that could harm investment, which is critical to increasing productivity.“