In the face of slowing inflation, many Companies reduced their budgets for the payment of salaries by the end of the year. The projected increase is slightly below the inflation estimated for 2024.
According to a survey carried out in the second half of July by the international consultancy WTWOf the 428 companies surveyed, 21% said they had already reduced their payroll budget. 61% intend to reduce it, or are considering doing so, while only 19% have no plans to make any changes.
What salary increase do companies project for non-contracted staff in 2024?
After reaching a peak projection in March, companies began to lower their projections of increases for non-contracted staff month by month, as inflation decreased. Between May and June, Firms went from estimating accumulated annual adjustments of 170% to 151% (market median), against an expected inflation of around 160%, on average.
At the sectoral levelthe largest budgeted increases are seen in communication and entertainment (+173%), automotive (+164%), consumer goods (+161%), services (+160%) and health (+159%). At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest increases are seen in metallurgy (+133%), banks (+136%) and fintech (+137%).
“We note that there are some sectors that still maintain their annual budgets a little higher than others, but The difference between the most competitive and the least is already narrowing and as the months go by everything will tend to equalize. more, as it usually happens every year,” he explained. Marcela AngeliDirector of Work & Rewards at WTW.
The consulting firms and financial institutions that participated in the latest Market Expectations Survey (REM) of the Central Bank (BCRA) estimate that monthly inflation will remain around 4% for the rest of the year. In this context, the companies surveyed by WTW foresee that In the year-to-date, a total of between 4 and 6 salary adjustments will be verifiedbelow the previous estimate.
What will happen to the benefits complementary to salary?
In parallel, Angeli added that companies are also beginning to update increases in other complementary benefits to the salary such as lunch, daycare, kilometer value recognized for the use of one’s own car for work reasons, among others.
For its part, Stella Maris SanyanWTW Health Director, He assured that the medical benefit remains the most valued by employees after salary.
In this area, the increase in costs far exceeded inflation following the Government’s decision to deregulate adjustments in prepaid and social security plans. In this context, the WTW survey reflected that Only 30% of firms managed to agree on below-average wage increases.
Still, 81% of companies do not plan to make changes in agreements with health companies. “At the beginning of the year, the intention to make changes to this benefit was very high, but now, as the months have passed, the trend has changed; this has to do with the fact that it is a highly valued benefit.”
Source: Ambito
