Banks in Canary Wharf (Ian West/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)The news that bankers’ bonuses are going up again while real wages in the wider economy remain stagnant or are falling due to the cost of living crisis, is hardly going to be surprising for anyone who can cast their mind back to 2008.
Average pay in the finance and business services sectors jumped 8.1% in the final quarter of 2021, according to the latest ONS data, compared with just 2.6% in public sector professions and 2.4% in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
The ONS numbers show that workers in some industries will seriously struggle to shoulder rises in the cost of living. Inflation is currently running at 5.4% nationwide, meaning public sector workers and staff in many other sectors face a real-terms pay cut.
Only those in Canary Wharf and the Square Mile are getting a real-terms pay rise as wages, including bonuses, rose by 4.3% across the economy.
All the talk of remembering those who got us through the pandemic and largely kept the country running in the early days of lockdown has clearly been quickly forgotten, as a shortage of talent in some industries has seen the starting salaries offered sky rocket.
What do you think of the news of bankers getting a pay rise? Does the talent and skill they bring warrant this money? Let us know in the comments below for the chance to be featured on the ES website.
