Pay data for the 3 months to the end of February from EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, once again shows that the average level of pay settlements in manufacturing has fallen. The 1.7 per cent recorded, down from 1.8% for the previous 3 months to the end of January, is a new historical low.
There was also a slight rise in the number of companies either freezing pay or deferring their pay settlement in the same 3 month period. The number of companies reporting that they had frozen pay rose slightly to nearly 45% of all reported settlements whilst those deferring their pay settlement increased to just over 20%. In both cases, these are the highest figures that have been reported by EEF since the survey’s 1987 conception.
In light of the figures, EEF called for financial assistance for manufacturers that have introduced short-time working.
“This further fall in settlement levels and increase in the number of companies either freezing or deferring pay clearly shows the severe impact that the economic downturn is now having on manufacturers,” said David Yeandle, EEF head of employment policy.
“Government needs to support the growing number of companies that have introduced short-time working as one way of coping with these difficult times by providing them with some financial assistance.”
EEF’s figures are based on 328 settlements covering 56,794 employees.
