Staff across the East Midlands more confident about their job prospects than UK averages: But have lower pay increase expectations

Staff across the East Midlands more confident about their job prospects than UK averages: But have lower pay increase expectations

Employees across the East Midlands are more confident in their job prospects than the national average, but aren’t as optimistic about their chances of a pay rise. That’s according to the latest Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index (JCI) – an economic confidence tracker produced in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

The data revealed that 61% of staff in the region are confident about their job prospects this year, slightly higher than the national average of 60%. While this falls to 50% who are optimistic about their career options in the next five years, this is still above the national average of 46% for the same timeframe.

Interestingly, despite this level of job optimism, employees across the East Midlands demonstrated below average expectations in salary increases. While the majority (63%) indicated that they will get a pay rise this year, this is below the national average of 65%. The extent of additional remuneration East Midlands staff expect is also lower than the UK average of 3.8%, with workers in the region expecting just a 3% pay rise.

James Paget, Market Director - Midlands & Home Counties at Robert Half, commented:

“It’s interesting to note that despite the high levels of job confidence noted in the East Midlands, pay increase expectations are lower than we would expect. This bucks many of the trends that we see in other regions, however it’s important that employers don’t allow this information to lead to complacency in terms of their employee attraction packages. If staff see that peers in other locations are getting better salary increases and access to additional perks or benefits, firms could be at risk of losing some of their best people.”

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About the research

In partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the quarterly Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index is the most authoritative report on the key socio-economic factors influencing confidence in the UK labour market.

The Jobs Confidence Index (JCI) is made up of four equally weighted pillars, each measuring a factor which contributes to jobs confidence. These are:
1.Job security confidence
2.Pay confidence
3.Job search and progression confidence
4.Macroeconomic confidence

The JCI takes a positive or negative number, where numbers above zero signal that jobs confidence is higher than the long-term average, and numbers below zero show it is lower. The JCI can take any number, but it usually stands between -30 and 30, showing that confidence is close to a normal level when it is within this range.

About Robert Half

Robert Half (NYSE: RHI) is the world’s first and largest specialised talent solutions and business consulting firm, connecting highly skilled job seekers with rewarding opportunities at great companies. We offer contract talent and permanent placement solutions in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support, and we also provide executive search services. Robert Half is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm that delivers internal audit, risk, business and technology consulting solutions. In the past 12 months, Robert Half, including Protiviti, has been named one of the Fortune® Most Admired Companies™ and 100 Best Companies to Work For and a Forbes Best Employer for Diversity. Explore talent solutions, research and insights at www.roberthalf.com/gb/en.