Inflation outpaces salary increases in #pakistan: survey

Staff Report

LAHORE: A survey conducted by ROZEE.PK, Pakistan’s leading job portal, and YouGov, an international research company, revealed that the majority of working Pakistanis believe their cost of living has increased more than their salaries over the past one year.

Moreover, almost half of them have no household savings, and a third save less than 10 percent of their annual household income.

75 percent of the respondent’s claim their cost of living has increased by more than 15 percent in the past 12 months and 75 percent of the respondents feel they received pay increases that were less than the increased cost of living.

Interestingly, almost 74 percent of the respondents feel they deserve to get a salary increase of 16 percent or more and over a third (37 percent) expect they will get a raise of more than 15 percent in the next 12 months. At the same time, two in five (41 percent) of the respondents feel there is an excess supply of talent in the job market, which suggests employees will be fortunate to receive salary increases of this level.

The survey also revealed that 24 percent of the respondents did not receive a salary increase in the last 12 months. However, despite these findings, respondents are evenly split in terms of how satisfied they are with their raise this year – 30 percent are happy with their salary increase against 34 percent of respondents who are unhappy with their raise.

According to the survey, increased costs in food and petrol are perceived as the primary contributors to the rise in the cost of living. Despite tightening economic conditions, however, only 11 percent of the respondents feel the quality of their lives is worse than before.

The survey also revealed almost half of those polled (41 percent) do not save anything from their household income, and 34 percent claim they only save 10 percent or less. While older respondents (aged 40 years or older) are more likely to save than other ages, the survey showed they are saving a lower proportion of their total salary than other savers.

Long-term economic growth requires capital investment and frequently the main source of funds for capital investment are household savings. In addition, higher rates of household savings allow a larger portion of a country’s overall debt to be financed internally. Consequently, the low rate of household savings revealed by the survey reflects a troubling trend in a key economic indicator.

The survey also examines at length how various employees of differing sectors are doing in terms of income level, job satisfaction, brand loyalty, and gender inequality. The findings reveal a large proportion of Pakistan’s workforce is relatively inexperienced, with two in five respondents only three years or less into their careers, mostly due to the fact that 70 percent are aged below 30 years. Also, the survey correlates the length of career with income, with those in their jobs for more than 20 years earning an average of Rs 106,000, almost four times as much as those only working for 1 to 3 years. The survey also found that males on average earn an extra Rs 4,000 per month more than women.

Commenting on the findings, ROZEE.PK CEO Monis Rahman, said, “Perceptions of the labour market and employment opportunities can reveal a lot about the state of a country’s economy. The ROZEE.PK Salary Survey, in partnership with YouGov, was highly insightful in an environment in which data is scarce. However, despite some troubling trends, it is heartening to see that the majority of respondents remain optimistic about the future of the country and economic growth.”

The survey was conducted online with 6,431 working respondents as total collected samples, drawn from ROZEE.PK’s online database and website visitors. The survey was conducted to gauge the current employment and economic conditions within Pakistan and to provide insight into current trends and feelings about the labour market, which can then be used as an impetus for affecting change.