Employers came up with a controversial monetary surprise for employees: what is wrong with salaries

They will grow up, but a handout will not please

About 60% of Russian employers plan to index wages in the winter of 2023. The median rate of increase, according to the plans of companies, will be 5 thousand rubles, according to a study by HeadHunter. Such a bonus will become an average and, of course, will not satisfy everyone. With a salary of 30 thousand rubles, indexation will be noticeable, but with a higher level of wages, it will not cause joy. Experts told whether such an increase would help offset last year’s inflationary losses.

According to the hh.ru Salary Data Bank project, in 2023, 43% of companies plan to revise salaries for employees once a year, 42% of companies will do this by decision of management, only 4% plan to revise salaries two or more times for the year, and 11% are not going to raise salaries of their employees in the coming year, ”the HeadHunter study says.

The median indicator is a very vague concept and difficult to assess, says Sergey Sukhostavets, Operations Director of the Rocket Work technology platform. According to the survey, half of the workers will receive a raise of more than 5,000 rubles, while the other half will receive less. If we take as a guide the average median salary in the country in 2022 – 40 thousand rubles, then the increase in half of the cases will be a little more than 10%. Others have less than 10%.

“Is it a little or a lot? With annual inflation above 12% and in conditions where real wages have not been growing for 10 years, of course, for almost all citizens, such an increase will remain invisible, the expert emphasizes. – As for the reasons for the growth of salaries, there are several factors. The public sector is expected to index by 8% in January. In the private sector, salaries are rising against the backdrop of an exacerbated shortage of personnel. The average growth again fits in the range of 10-15%.

Meanwhile, according to him, even more significant growth can be expected in especially scarce areas – up to 20-25%. These are primarily specialists from the fields of IT, finance, information security.

“A noticeable increase in wages can also be expected for vacancies with a low entry threshold (couriers, drivers, warehouse workers, salesmen, service and repair masters), since the shortage of personnel is now felt more acutely in the blue-collar and blue-collar segment,” says Sukhostavets. It all depends on the efficiency of the employee, what benefit he brings to the company, Pavel Sigal, First Vice President of Opora Rossii, is convinced.

“It is clear that 5 thousand rubles for some will not seem like such a significant increase, but for others it is quite solid. In any case, when there is a salary increase, it is always a good signal,” he said. – Some companies have carried out staff optimization and they need to stimulate the employees who remain. There are also systems of bonuses and various incentives. Companies are planning a certain indexation – and this is a plus, because they need to develop, and for this it is necessary to attract qualified employees.”

According to the investment strategist of Arikapital Management Company Sergey Suverov. employers take into account the situation that is developing in the country and often index salaries if inflation rises. Because everyone understands that with rising prices in the Russian Federation, real incomes of the population are declining. This is also a way for the company to retain staff and increase its loyalty. Moreover, there are certain difficulties in some areas of the economy where there is a shortage of personnel. In particular, these are digital technologies, the IT sector, communication services, and there is also a shortage of working specialties that are in great demand in production. For such specialists, bonuses, bonuses, as well as the general level of salaries, companies can offer above the market.

“Currently, higher salaries and raises are being offered for IT professionals as there is a severe shortage of such workers. In addition, consistently high earnings in production, in the link of middle management personnel (foreman, head of production, etc.) or in narrow working specialties, especially in the defense sector, ”concludes the MK interlocutor.