2024-02-05 06:00:09
Employers had not anticipated the acceleration of inflation; on the other hand, they anticipate its slowdown. The 2024 vintage promises to be less generous than last year in terms of salaries.
This is what emerges from the work published Friday by the Alpha Group. This company, which specializes in particular in advising CSEs, has sifted through the approximately 600 agreements relating to remuneration filed with the Ministry of Labor and published on the Légifrance website, as of January 10.
First observation: while they were marginal, the texts not providing for a salary increase measure, numbering 127, constitute a little more than a sixth of the agreements. “The health and social economy sectors are over-represented among them, as well as SMEs with fewer than 250 employees,” underlines Alice Rustique, research manager at Groupe Alpha.
Change of period
Examination of the 421 agreements providing for salary increases also confirms the change in period. On average, negotiated budgets will continue to increase more than in 2022.
But after an increase of 4.6% in 2023, their rate of change should be reduced to 3.5% in 2024 (3.6% for non-executives and 3.4% for executives). This slowdown is not only linked to the reduction in inflation, the study specifies. It also results from the “economic slowdown and [du] easing of tensions on the labor market.
The interruption of the fall in unemployment causes a “rebalancing of the balance of power in favor of businesses”, notes the Alpha Group, which underlines that “for three years, increases have followed inflation without exceeding it”.
A more differentiated salary policy
This year should also be marked by a return to a more differentiated salary policy. The resumption of inflation marked that of general increases last year. This practice remained the majority in companies having concluded a salary agreement for 2024.
But it has declined for all categories of staff. Just as the practice and the amount of the heel, which consists of the guarantee of a minimum increase in euros geared towards low wages, have retreated.
After rising to 70% the previous year, the share of employers having granted a general increase to their engineers and managers fell back to 64%, 5 points above 2022 all the same, with an increase on average of 2.69%. Eight out of ten companies have planned a general increase for their workers and employees and as many for their intermediate professions, with an average increase of 3.14% and 3.04% respectively.
Less value sharing premium
The decline in the distribution of general increases has not shifted to individual increases. This practice has stagnated for non-managers and is even decreasing for managers, with an individual increase budget of 2.74% for the latter compared to 2.06% for workers and employees and 2.12% for intermediate professions.
To support this landing of their salary policy, one could have imagined that more companies would opt for the distribution of a value sharing bonus (PPV). This will not be the case. 30% of companies having signed a salary agreement have provided for such a bonus, for an average amount of 862 euros. “This practice is less frequent than in 2023 (37.5%) and the average amount is lower (1,280 euros)”, underlines the Alpha Group.
There is undoubtedly a link to be seen with the fact that the PPV tax and social regime has become less advantageous for employees of companies with more than 50 employees. “Several factors lead us to believe that in 2024, many companies having used a value sharing bonus will instead turn to a participation and profit-sharing supplement,” indicates Alice Rustique.
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