IQ Magazine Issue 20

iQ advice
Salary alone is no
longer the be-all and
end-all when it comes
to remuneration
One surprising finding in Cooper Lomaz’s Recruitment
Trends and Salary Survey is that the region’s gender
pay gap appears to have widened, from £8,000 to
£10,000. The average salary for a man is now £41k
while for a woman it is £31k. “It shows more work
needs to be done to achieve pay equality. It also suggests
that there needs to be more encouragement and support
for women to pursue careers in areas like information
technology and engineering,” said Mr Fletcher.
The survey revealed that six out of 10 workers had
enjoyed salary increases. More than half of respondents
said they were satisfied in their work; less than a quarter
were not.
The survey has some ‘could do better’ advice for
employers wanting to recruit and keep the best talent.
Seven in 10 employees are convinced their work would
improve if they were offered training and development
in their current role – only three in 10 said they had
been given the option.
A major shift in working patterns in 2016 saw a 40 per
cent surge in the number of people spending at least
part of their week working away from their office desk
or work station. Over half of those questioned said
they now worked from multiple locations; they may be
working from more than one company office, at client
premises, during their commute and, increasingly, from
home. “More and more employers recognise working
from home as an attractive option in recruiting and
retaining quality staff,” said Mr Fletcher.
The opportunity to work from home is largely due to
technological advances such as cloud service systems.
“The use of tools like Skype and Google Docs means
that office colleagues can actively collaborate on a work
project. Several people can edit a document online at
the same time,” said Mr Fletcher. “It’s a big factor for a
growing number of people who can now live and work
in the Eastern Counties and enjoy the quality of life it
offers, without having to commute to London. It brings
a dramatic enhancement in work-life balance.”
The café culture is also a growing factor, with one in
10 saying that digital advances mean they prefer to do
some of their work over a cup of coffee. Simon Brown,
Cooper Lomaz’s commercial director, said: “More and
more people are looking for a break away from the
office desk, and with cafés and coffee shops offering free
wifi, they can take a laptop and paperwork with them
and enjoy a change of environment.
“It’s a trend particularly evident among younger
people, especially those who are working in the creative
industries. It’s also a useful option for someone who is
visiting a client’s premises some distance from the office
and wouldn’t otherwise be getting back until late.”
Some employers are finding that productivity increases
when they operate a shorter working day. It keeps
younger staff task-focused and away from the competing
distractions of social media and news websites.
More Information
www.cooperlomaz.co.uk
issue 20 | page 29