More than half of Luxembourg’s workers struggle to ask for a pay rise because they are worried it could have a negative impact on their relationship with their boss, a new study has shown.
While more than 60% of employees said they did not feel comfortable asking for a higher salary, 38% have never dared to request a rise, according to the survey published by recruitment website Jobs.lu on Tuesday.
A quarter of staff admitted asking for a salary hike every year, but just under a third actually receive a higher wage after seeking an increase.
Four out of 10 people who asked for a higher salary did so because they felt their work performance warranted a raise, while one in three made the request after realising their colleagues in the same position were earning more or because they believed they were underpaid, the study showed.
The main reason why employees hold back from asking their manager for a raise is because they fear it would harm their good working relationship, the survey found. A third of the 1,240 respondents said they found it difficult to assess their own worth and a quarter alluded to a lack of self-confidence.
“It always seems to be difficult for employees to bring up the topic of salary with their manager,” said Arthur Meulman, CEO of jobs.lu. “In a tight labour market, managers should also be more open to this topic.”
As the economy is bouncing back strongly from the pandemic, employers have come under pressure to loosen their purse strings for skilled people. Whereas job seekers would switch jobs for an average 10% salary top-up until 2020, new employees have been receiving double that since then, Kieron O’Connor, a director at KR Recruitment said at the end of last year.
Luxembourg’s labour market is squeezed hard by two separate forces: a small pool of regional talent and an incessant demand for highly specialised staff. This, in turn, is driving salaries up as employers outbid each other for the best candidates.
“It’s gone back to the old normal of huge demand, not enough good candidates, and that puts severe pressure on salaries”, said O’Connor.
Luxembourg’s latest wage indexation took place on 1 April but there will not be a second hike this year after the government, employer representatives and trade unions decided to delay it until 2023.
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