Virtual reality game developer NDreams has increased the yearly salary for each of its 180 full-time employees by £1,000, in order to address rising UK energy bills.
The business is headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, with many of its staff working on a hybrid or remote basis. It has increased salaries for existing and vacant roles on a permanent basis, while part-time workers receive a pro-rated pay increase.
NDreams’ senior management team calculated how much to increase salaries through an assessment that took into account the UK government’s announcement of a £400 discount on household energy bills, to be paid over six months from October.
After factoring in the latest price cap increases, as well as tax and national insurance (NI), the team realised that each household still faced an average shortfall of £530, and an additional £795 was needed to cover the increases. As such, a £1,000 rise was determined to be the fairest solution.
According to the business, it wanted to ensure that staff were not impacted adversely by the winter fuel crisis and growing energy bills. It has also called for other games industry employers to take similar action, where possible, to support employees through the current cost-of-living crisis.
Tamsin O’Luanaigh, chief people officer at NDreams, said: “As a business, we’ve always focused heavily on initiatives to support our team members’ mental health. The significance of financial wellbeing as a key part of this conversation is something we have never shied away from, and so ensuring that our team members are well-compensated and protected against the rising costs of energy has been a priority for us.
“After careful calculations, we are happy that our approach is the right one to ease the concerns of our team members and to make up for the limitations of the government’s support package.”
