Morgan McKinley Ireland Salary Survey 2012
Survey finds more than half of Irish professionals have a more positive business outlook for 2012 compared to 2011
Thursday, 5th January 2011 – Morgan McKinley has today released its latest Ireland Salary Survey which offers insights into business confidence, remuneration and human resources trends for professionals working in financial services, professional services, manufacturing and IT in 2012.
Salary Survey Highlights:
o Almost half of respondents (47%) working in financial services, professional services, manufacturing and IT have a more positive business outlook for 2012 compared to 2011. A further 11% feel significantly more positive about the business climate in 2012.
o The majority (58%) expect salaries to remain the same within their businesses over the next 12 months
o Talent attraction is perceived to be the biggest human resources challenge (chosen by 23% of respondents), followed by talent retention (19%) and skills shortages (16%)
o Positively, a low percentage (4%) of HR managers and business leaders are concerned about handling redundancies this year.
The Morgan McKinley Ireland Salary Survey 2012 found that almost half (47%) of HR managers and business leaders surveyed have a more positive business outlook for 2012 compared to 2011. A further 11% feel significantly more positive about the business climate in 2012, whilst 32% say their outlook has not changed from last year.
When asked about compensation trends, the majority (58%) said that they expect salaries to remain the same within their businesses over the next 12 months. However, 21% predict that salaries will increase, albeit modestly, by approximately 1-5%. Conversely, 13% feel that salaries within their businesses will decrease by 1-5% in 2012. These findings are similar to last year’s survey results, in which 64% of managers thought salaries would remain stable in 2011.
Survey participants were also asked what they thought would be the biggest human resources challenge they would have to face in 2012. The highest response was for attracting professionals (23%), followed by talent retention (19%) and skills shortages (16%). Positively, the percentage of managers concerned about handling redundancies in the coming 12 months is quite low at 4%.
Please note: a breakdown of results by sector (financial services, professional services, manufacturing and IT) is available upon request.
Karen O’Flaherty, Chief Operations Officer, Morgan McKinley Ireland commented:
“The findings of our latest Salary Survey point towards a slight lift in business confidence in Ireland, with almost half of managers claiming to have a more positive outlook for 2012 compared to 2011. Although there is still considerable uncertainty in the market and growth predictions are sombre, the major steps taken last year towards Ireland’s economic recovery have made many professionals feel that it is time to ‘move on’ and work towards a stronger and more stable 2012.
“This increased optimism does not necessarily equate to increased salaries however, with the majority of respondents expecting salaries within their businesses to remain unchanged over the next 12 months. A negligible number of managers surveyed (0.2%) expect to see salary increases of more than 10%; it is likely that any significant rises will be within fields where demand for professionals far outstrips supply, for example, IT software developers, multilingual specialists or senior finance professionals.”
“Taking into account the current mood of austerity and ongoing uncertainty over the Euro currency, it may seem strange that talent attraction, talent retention and skills shortages are seen as predominant issues facing human resources managers in 2012. Employers recognise there are still shortages of skilled professionals in certain sectors, so sourcing and retaining top talent within allocated recruitment budgets is a priority, even in this challenging economic climate.”
To compile the Morgan McKinley Ireland Salary Survey 2012, Morgan McKinley conducted telephone and email surveys with 584 HR managers and business leaders working for financial services, professional services, manufacturing and IT companies across the Republic of Ireland.
