Manufacturing pay settlements in the south west have fallen very sharply to a new low, with more than three-quarters of manufacturing companies now freezing pay, according to the latest figures from EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation.
EEF’s pay data for the 3 months to the end of August shows that the average level of pay settlements has fallen to 0.3%, down from the revised figure of 0.8% for the previous 3 months to the end of July. This is the lowest level of pay settlements reported by manufacturers since EEF’s survey began in 1987.
In the same period, the number of manufacturers reporting that they had frozen pay rose to just over three-quarters of all reported settlements.
Commenting on these latest figures, EEF South West Region External Affairs Adviser Clive Turner, said: ”This further sharp fall in manufacturing pay settlements is due mainly to the high proportion of companies that are freezing pay in response to the economic climate.”
