Member Article

North East workers have mixed reactions to employment deals

Employees are “divided” in how they feel about changes made to their employment deals during the recession.

That’s the result revealed by recent research commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The survey questioned over 700 UK workers who have been impacted by changes to their reward (pay, benefits and bonuses), working hours or who work for organisations that have made redundancies.

In the North East, almost half (46%) of respondents said their reaction to their employers’ decisions was that they understood, as times are tough. Another 17% said the changes made them angry and a further 28% said they found such decisions demotivating. Just 3% said they were motivated by their employer taking decisive action.

PwC warned that many once-powerful employer brands would be unable to attract top talent in the next decade as a result of people-related decisions made during the recession.

Ian Lithgow, Newcastle based director, human resource services, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 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.

“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.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .