Employers have been pressured into giving their staff larger pay rises to help them with the current economic downturn, a new survey shows.
The report by Croner Reward found that 40 per cent of employers feel obliged to give higher rises than in 2007 because of the increased cost of living, with the same number saying they had done so.
Andrew Walker, business director at the firm said: "We are all experiencing a higher cost of living, and no-one wants to feel financially worse off year on year, so we expect pressure on employers to give their staff pay awards at least in line with inflation."
However, some firms might struggle to find the funds needed to provide such increases, he added.
The findings of the Croner Reward study seem to contradict those of an earlier report by pay consultants Industrial Relations Services.
It found that the gap between inflation and the rate of pay increases is now at its biggest in almost 20 years.
