Up to 52% of employers across the globe anticipate an increase in the share of the revenue accumulated to their employees’ wages from 2025-2030, according to the latest edition of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report.
Despite this, 41% of surveyed employers see stability in their current wage allocation, while 7% expect a reduction by 2030. This expectancy was most prominent among smaller companies (those with less than 1,000 employees), with 57% of employers echoing this sentiment.
The most cited factor influencing wage and compensation policies by employers was workers’ performance and productivity at 77%, with competition to retain talent trailing closely behind at 71%, according to the report.
There are six industries that expect competition for talent to be the most important factor influencing wage policy, taking precedence over productivity and performance. These are electronics, insurance and pensions management, professional services, real estate, medical and healthcare services, government and public sector.
All other industries cited productivity as the most instrumental element when determining wages, the report said.
Reducing wage inequalities and supporting workers’ purchasing power came in third by a wide margin, with only 33% of respondents citing this, aligning pay with government regulations. Collective bargaining agreements arrived close by at 32%, cost-reduction strategies was the least-cited element, despite it being 30% of employers, but only 2% away from those who believed in collective bargaining agreements.
When it came to the geographical breakup, around 32 economies highlighted lining up wages with productivity as the most important factor for wages, while 28 economies saw competition over talent as their most considered aspect.
Gender Disparities In Wage Premiums
Men tend to see a greater jump in their wages when moving to a job role that requires more skills in comparison to women. This wage premium for women was at 30% compared to the 44% for men, according to the report.
This disparity is more striking when male workers transferred themselves to jobs that require a lot more preparedness, with 39% seeing a wage premium in comparison to 19% of women having the same.
When it came to specialised jobs that need a lot of preparation, women arrived lower at 15% in contrast to men who have a 44% higher median wage when they moved to such jobs.
. Read more on Personal Finance by NDTV Profit.