While the mounting cost of living crisis continues into 2023, data from global recruitment agency Phoenix reveals that only 22% of the UK workforce received a pay rise last year to combat these challenges. Thisis according to results of a nationwide sentiment survey*, conducted amongst business owners and employees across the UK, looking at what workplace models the workforce are engaged in, recession fears and job security going into 2023.

“Last year was a difficult year for the tech industry, and indeed other industries, and recession concerns are prevalent across the workforce coming into 2023. Despite the challenging outlook, it is and will continue to be an employee-driven market. The cost of living squeeze continues, and employees will be searching further for employers that are conscious of the current difficult time the workforce are facing, be that by financial means or other benefits. Businesses should continue to be cognizant of this to retain their talent as the desire for flexible work and other competitive benefits will continue. All firms should prioritise innovation and adaptation as we head into an unsure period, but there is cause for optimism as the future of work continues to evolve.” says Ed Rossiter, founder and Co-CEO of Phoenix.

“Despite the recent push for a full-time return to the workplace by advocates including Elon Musk, the UK’s workforce has yet to fully follow suit. Hybrid continues to rule, and the advantages of this strategy have been evident. Although a company’s in-person culture is important, many job searchers still find the recognition of each employee’s unique demands to be appealing when examining prospects and deciding to remain with their current employer,” added Ruth Lyndon, Co-CEO of Phoenix.

Despite the rise of cost of living crisis, employers are not increasing wages in tandem with inflation
While the cost of living crisis continues into 2023, results of this survey show that during 2022 only 22% of workers received a pay increase to align with the challenging economic climate, with 78% increasing no increase as such. Almost all respondents (94%) believe that they should receive a pay rise to meet these challenges over 2023, with only 6% of the opposing view.

Although the UK workforce is acutely aware of a potential recession, 75% of workers currently believe their employment is secure.
100% of respondents believe that the UK will enter into a recession this year – despite this, the majority of the workforce believes their jobs are safe this year at 72%, while 28% are concerned with the prospect of potential job losses.

Despite the volatile environment at present, 50% of respondents are looking to move jobs this year, with 28% looking to remain at their current place of work and 22% unsure of their movements during 2023.

Hybrid working continues to be the norm, with over half of the workforce population engaging in it, but more should be done by employers to ensure it is done correctly.
Over half of the population (61%) surveyed revealed that they are currently engaged in hybrid working, visiting the office two or three times a week, while only 6% have returned to the office full time. 11% are working remotely full time while based in a different country from their employer, and 11% are working remotely full time while in the same country as their employer.

50% of employees reported that their companies had given them a monetary budget to only allow for this, compared to that of 32% of Irish workers surveyed. 33% have had their companies conduct a full health and safety check of the work-from-home stations, while the majority have not at 61%.

The majority of workers believe that an approaching recession will not cause any changes to their working models at 67%, with 11% of the view that flexibility will be increased during this time, 5% predicting a return to the office full-time, and 17% are unsure of what a recession may mean for their working conditions.

Global outlook – the benefits of working from home are evident for both the male and female respondents, with only 15% working in the office full-time was reported for both genders. 

The larger scale data collected across Ireland, the UK and the US shows that 49% of females are working on a hybrid basis, compared to 51% of males, while 15% of both females and males are working in the office full time.

The female respondents reported being more secure that their jobs will be secure this year at 79% compared to 69%. Males revealed that they are more likely to look at moving from their current role this year at 44%, with 35% of females also looking at leaving their jobs. More females received pay increases last year to match inflation at 32% compared to 26% of males receiving a raise.

*Survey from Phoenix