Employees in the East Midlands are more optimistic about their job prospects compared to the national average, but they hold lower expectations for pay rises. This is according to the most recent Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index (JCI), an economic confidence tracker produced in collaboration with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
The data revealed that 61% of employees in the region are confident about their job prospects this year, which is slightly above the national average of 60%. While optimism about career options in the next five years drops to 50%, this figure still surpasses the national average of 46% for the same period.
Interestingly, despite this level of job confidence, employees in the East Midlands have below-average expectations for salary increases. Although the majority (63%) expect to receive a pay rise this year, this figure is below the national average of 65%. Furthermore, the extent of the anticipated pay increase is also lower than the UK average of 3.8%, with East Midlands workers expecting just a 3% rise.
James Paget, Market Director – Midlands & Home Counties at Robert Half, commented:
“It’s interesting to note that despite the high levels of job confidence noted in the East Midlands, pay increase expectations are lower than we would expect. This bucks many of the trends that we see in other regions, however it’s important that employers don’t allow this information to lead to complacency in terms of their employee attraction packages. If staff see that peers in other locations are getting better salary increases and access to additional perks or benefits, firms could be at risk of losing some of their best people.”