How to keep staff when pay is static

摘要

When the recession hit, private sector salaries fell, but public sector pay remained unaffected. For a while there was a gap between private and public sector pay until this government imposed a spending freeze on public sector pay from 2011. The recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that salaries for both sectors are now about level, although the final salary pension scheme in the public sector still puts it marginally ahead, even after scheme rule changes. Public sector pay is likely to continue being squeezed - as George Osborne signalled in his Conservative conference speech - while private sector pay edges up with the improving economy. However, the public sector, including local government is beginning to experience recruitment and retention problems which can only worsen.