Employees divided over pay cuts, freezes and downtime

EMPLOYEES are divided in how they receive changes made to their employment deal during the recession, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The research surveyed more than 700 UK workers who have been impacted by changes to their pay, benefits and bonuses, and working hours or who work for organisations that have made redundancies.

In Yorkshire, more than a third (38%) said they understood and changes as times were tough.

Just 10% said the changes made them angry. However, nearly half (43%) said they found such decisions demotivating.

Some 8% did not agree with any of these sentiments.

The accounting firm is now predicting that many once-powerful employer brands will be unable to attract top talent in the next decade as a result of people-related decisions made during the recession.

Graham Ward-Thompson, partner and Yorkshire leader human resource services at PwC, said: “Pay and promotion freezes, changes to pension schemes, cuts in recruitment and slashed training budgets, combined with poor communication, have eroded the bonds of trust between some employers and their employees.

“In contrast, other organisations have excelled at doing more with less to engage and develop their employees in an unstable employment landscape where many individuals view their career prospects as stagnant or diminishing.”

He said news of pay freezes and cuts across various sectors confirms many organisations are still very much focused on managing their people costs despite “subdued” growth in job markets.

However, he added that some companies were showing their top performers how much they value them on other ways such as explaining their succession plans or offering smaller ad-hoc awards for specific projects.

Communication is another important element according to Mr Ward-Thompson.

He said: “While workers are generally resigned to what the recession may mean for their pay and promotion prospects, communication between employers and employees can make all the difference between how this news is received and the level of trust in the relationship.

“As the long-term impact of people decisions taken during the downturn begins to be felt, the winners and losers of the war for talent are starting to reveal themselves – with those who continued to focus on investment and employee engagement emerging as clear leaders. Those who continued to offer their employees new opportunities and invested in their people pipeline are now at a competitive advantage.”