An Ibec survey has found that three out of four medium and large firms are planning to increase staff pay in 2020, with a projected median pay increase of 2.5%.
The employer group's annual HR Update 2019 found that 42% plan to hire more workers next year, marginally down on this year.
Almost 60% of companies are prioritising organisational and job role redesign, with 43% prioritising increased automation and the introduction of AI. Human resources priorities mirror this, with the top priority being attracting the ‘right’ employees (24%) together with a strong focus on lifelong learning (49%) and career transitions (38%).
Transferable skills, soft skills, and employability skills are identified as the top training investments. Leadership / people management is the top priority, followed by technical skills (63%) and coaching/mentoring (57%).
Ibec director of employee relations Maeve McElwee commented: “Plans to increase basic pay in 2020 reflect the fact that the Irish economy is continuing to grow through a period of great uncertainty due to Brexit and international trade tensions. The economy is now close to full employment, with moderate inflation and the strongest increases in real living standards since the early 2000s.
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“It is evident from the survey that companies and senior HR leaders are continuing to scope out and plan for a changing workplace. This is to be welcomed and encouraged, as the future of work will bring about many changes, some of which will be profound.”
In areas such as diversity and work/life balance, only one in five firms are preparing for gender pay gap reporting.
• Download Ibec 2019 Update on key pay and workplace trends
By sector, basic pay increases are most likely in the high-tech manufacturing sector and in manufacturing in general. Almost four out of five distribution companies expect their basic pay rates to increase next year, while seven in ten services companies also expect to increase basic pay.
Overall, basic pay increases are more likely in larger companies. Almost nine out of ten respondents that employ more than 250 employees expect to increase basic pay rates next year. Two thirds of companies with fewer than 50 employees expect to increase pay.
The survey asked about vacancy rates and skills needs, and the highest demand next year will be for engineering, finance professionals, IT and operative grades. Hospitality, healthcare and transport were the sectors with the smallest expected numbers of vacancies.
In respect of the ‘future workplace’, only half the respondents regard their carbon footprint as a high priority, with 34% classing it as a low priority and 11% ranking it as not a priority at all.
Photo: Maeve McElwee (left) at today’s Ibec HR Leadership Summit in Croke Park with Eduardo Briceño of Mindset Works (left), Anton Savage and Sister Orla Treacy (right), Loreto Girls' Secondary School, Rumbek, South Sudan. (Pix: Julien Behal)
