Companies are getting ready toraise wages, but above all, what is new this year is that it should go through general increases, while the well-established trend was almost exclusively for individual increases. Nearly 650 companies were questioned on the issue by the firm People Base CBM. The interest of this study is that it covers a very recent period, in the first half of October 2022, therefore marked in particular by the social conflict at TotalEnergies and by the day of action on October 18. As a result, companies say they are ready to let go and this much more, visibly, than in previous years.
Almost 58%, six out of ten companies, will this year grant increases to all of their employees to mechanically guarantee their purchasing power. This figure takes on its full significance when compared to what was practiced in previous years. In 2020 and 2021, we were in the 40% of companies to grant general increases. And in 2018 and 2019, this figure was around 30%. Compared to the period before the health crisis, there is therefore a spectacular increase of almost 30 points in the number of companies which will increase all their employees.
Increases for amounts that are clearly higher. The average rate of increase is also up sharply. It is almost 3% more salary for everyone. Here again, it is necessary to compare to better understand the change. This figure was only 1.2% in 2021 and even 0.7% in 2017.
General increases are back in force. For Cyril Bregou, a partner at the People Base CBM firm behind this study, the various tensions such as the war in Ukraine, inflation and pressure from trade unions are leading management to quickly implement catch-up policies.
Individual increases are not forgotten. The individual increase has been a trend that has been well established for several years and, despite the general increases, it is not going to end. On the contrary. The average rate of individual increases planned by companies is 4.25%. Again, this is a leap from previous years. For example, this is two points more than in 2021.