While Christmas might bring joy and cheer, it also signals a time of considrable financial stress for a vast number of families around the country.
However, according to a recent survey, it looks like many of us may experience somewhat of a respite in the coming months.
Having recently conducted research with 35 organisations, HR consulting firm, Mercer, have established that 97% of Irish employers are due to increase their wages in the new year, with most employees seeing a pay rise of approximately 2.2%.
The Salary Movement Report indicates that employees in technology life sciences, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sectors are likely to see the largest rise while those in the banking and financial services sector can expect an increase of approximately 1.8%.
Commenting on the findings, Mercer talent consultant, Noel O' Connor said: "The outlook is that salary increases are firmly back on the agenda for the vast majority of organisations."
Elaborating further, he explains: "After a number of years of consolidation in the jobs market, we are beginning to see more activity as employees are increasingly tempted by new opportunities. The competition for talent seems particularly aggressive in the high-tech, life science and construction industries."
It has been established that a salary of €20,000 will jump to €20,400 while a salary of €40,000 will increase to €40,800.
