Redundancyrise for managers
A NEW survey has revealed a rise in redundancy rates across Teesside - even though pay settlements are also on the up.
The 2008 National Management Salary Survey said redundancy rates across the North-east’s senior management teams had increased by 0.7% to 2.5% during the last year, compared with a 1.4% rise nationally to 3%.
But the survey, published by the Chartered Management Institute and salary survey specialists CELRE, also revealed an average increase in earnings of 7.1% in the North-east, up from 4.8% in 2007.
Jo Hand, founder of Jo Hand Recruitment in Middlesbrough, said that although the credit crunch was making life difficult for businesses, skills shortages in sectors such as engineering were forcing bosses to pay more to retain workers who did have the requisite abilities.
She said: “Certain skills are a lot harder to find. Employers recognise the need to offer good salary packages to retain the best staff”.
“It’s not surprising that redundancies have increased in the current climate but the best businesses can still survive”.
The survey said junior executives were the biggest beneficiaries in the region, receiving an average rise in basic pay of 5.5% compared with 4.5% for directors and 4.4% for managers. The average basic salary for a junior executive in the North-east was £21,062, ranging from £27,168 in the burgeoning pharmaceutical sector to £18,419 in transport and logistics.
Surprisingly, given employees’ increased earning power, the data suggests that UK executives are willing to risk their job security. Resignation rates across the region rest at 7.1% compared with the national average of 6.5%, which represents the second highest figure in the past decade.
Asked why their employees leave, 75% of bosses blame competition from other organisations or headhunters and 48% recognise they are failing to provide adequate career opportunities or development programmes. One in 10 admit employees leave because of frustrations with the working environment, while 8% cite “bureaucratic leadership styles”.
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