Employees in Britain believe they need a pay rise of £7,200 in order to lead a comfortable life, according to research by Indeed.
Its survey of 1,001 UK employees also found that 38% of female respondents plan to ask for a pay increase this year, compared to 51% of male respondents. A further 11% of women state they are too embarrassed to discuss a pay rise with their employer, compared to only 4% of men.
Employees who are based in Wales think a pay rise of £4,300 would enable them to have a comfortable life, while employees working in south east England feel a £9,900 pay increase would be required to achieve the same goal. Under a quarter (23%) of respondents in the east of England believe they do not need a pay rise because their life is comfortable with their current salary, compared to only 5% of respondents living in Bristol.
More than half (63%) of respondents who are based in London plan to ask for a pay rise in 2018, compared to 35% of respondents who work in Yorkshire.
Under a third (29%) of female respondents cite they are happy with their salary and therefore will not ask for a pay rise in 2018. Other reasons why women will not ask for a pay increase this year include that their peers have not had a pay rise (16%), they fear losing their job (16%), or they have had a pay rise recently (15%).
Bill Richards (pictured), UK managing director at Indeed, said: “However much we like our job, many of us feel we’d like it just that bit better if we were paid more. So it’s little surprise that ‘get a pay rise’ is a popular new year’s resolution, and by putting a figure on what people feel they need to be ‘comfortable’, our research reveals the scale of their ambition.
“Our £7,200 magic number shows people’s aspirations are well above the average pay rises achieved by British [employees] in 2017, which according to government data were below 3%. But with the number of unemployed people at its lowest level for four decades, employers are having to compete hard to recruit and retain the people they need to grow.
“This battle for talent should slowly push up wages in 2018, but it’s likely that employers will also ramp up the benefits they offer staff. Salary is only one of the drivers that attract talent, and our research shows that employees consistently rate work-life balance and the quality of the working environment as equally important as their pay packet.”