PayNet UK Salary Tracker: What is the real cost of living for UK employees today? Overview Hay Group s quarterly PayNet UK Salary Tracker looks at how employees pay compares with a range of key economic indicators to reveal the true picture of pay in the UK. It s based on data from Hay Group PayNet UK database which includes reward information for more than one million employees across all industries. This edition compares salaries to rail season ticket prices across eight major UK cities: London, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Who and where is best and worst off? Key findings Hay Group s latest PayNet UK Salary Tracker indicates season ticket fares could swallow up around 8 per cent of workers salaries. As train fares continue to rise above inflation, and salary increases remain subdued, commuting costs are set to take up more of UK employees pay packets. Employers need to be aware of this when considering reward packages, and consider benefits such as interest free season ticket loans and greater flexibility to work from home. Only 42 per cent currently of employers offer their employees interest free season ticket loans. Two thirds of these (64 per cent) offer them to all UK staff, with most of the remainder (27 per cent) doing so for London-based workers only. As fares rise, employers may need to consider integrating commuter benefits into total reward packages, to engage and enable staff to help them offset the additional squeeze on employees disposable incomes. Fare cities Unsurprisingly, commuters in London spend the largest proportion of their salary on travel overall. For operative level workers, the average stands at 17 per cent, rising to as much as 20 per cent for journeys over 50 minutes. As this does not take into account tube and bus fares, many commuters in the Capital will have to stretch even further to cover the cost of their journey to work. From the sample, commuters in Cardiff spend the lowest proportion of their wages in the country on their commute, with short journeys representing less than 6 per cent of annual salary across all job levels. However, operative workers commuting for more than 30 minutes will still part with 10 per cent of their salary for an annual season ticket. In other metropolitan cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol, average season ticket fares make up 13-14 per cent of annual salary for operative level workers. 1
Season ticket prices in Scotland are slightly lower as a proportion of salaries. Operative level workers can expect to spend an average of 11-12 per cent of their annual salary on commuting into Edinburgh or Glasgow. Job levels Salary movements are provided across five employee levels from clerical to senior management. The table below shows representative job titles for each level. Job level Operative/ Clerk Professional Senior Professional Head of Function Senior Manager Representative job titles Accounting Clerk, Process Operator, General Clerk, Receptionist/Switchboard Operator, Data Entry Operator, Word Processing Operator, Quality Assurance/Quality Control Technician, Stock Clerk Accountant, Application Developer, Network Administrator, Compensation & Benefits Analyst, Customer Service Representative, Technical Customer Service Representative, Engineer, Buyer Financial Analyst, Database Manager, Legal Advisor, Brand/Product Manager, National/Key Accounts Manager, Scientist/Researcher, Maintenance Superintendent Commercial Manager, Chief Engineer, General Manager, Heads of Function Director level positions Hay Group PayNet: Maximise the value of your reward programme Hay Group PayNet is an invaluable tool for reward professionals giving clear, consistent and accurate comparisons across job function, companies and industries. Call 0207 856 7200 or email GB_reward_information@haygroup.com to find out how Hay Group PayNet works, and why it can help you maximise the value of your reward programme. 2
Salary by level and UK city 3
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Season ticket price as percentage of salary Short journey times by UK city Commuter fares are taken from a sample of representative routes into cities based on short routes with journey times of 17-30 minutes. Salary data is taken from Hay Group PayNet UK and is pre-tax. Medium journey times by UK city Commuter fares are taken from a sample of representative routes into cities based on short routes with journey times of 31-49 minutes. Salary data is taken from Hay Group PayNet UK and is pre-tax. 6
Long journey times by UK city Commuter fares are taken from a sample of representative routes into cities based on short routes with journey times of 50+ minutes. Salary data is taken from Hay Group PayNet UK and is pre-tax. Salary vs retail prices (RPI) For the first half of the decade, pay rises remained comfortably higher than the retail prices index. But the gap closed over 2005/6, and the cost of living has far outpaced salary increases since 2010. 7
Salary vs consumer prices (CPI) The pattern here is much the same. But average pay rises remained well ahead until 2008, and have not yet dropped as far behind the official rate of inflation. Salary vs interest rates Salary movements have tracked the interest rate much more closely. Until 2009, when the rate plummeted in response to the global recession. 8
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