2023-08-31 06:00:27
Driven by inflation, the year 2023 was marked by a strong increase in wages, and 2024 could well follow this trend. According to Deloitte’s annual survey published on Thursday, pay increases have reached unprecedented levels this year. And next year, they could still be very strong, despite an anticipated slight decline.
The figures, obtained from 300 companies representative of the French economic fabric, show a significant increase in the budget of companies granted to salary increases in 2023, in particular for workers, employees, technicians and supervisors (OETAM), with a share of the budget, which increased by 4.6% (+1.5 points compared to 2022).
The role of inflation
Non-executives have largely benefited from the successive rises in the minimum wage, indexed to inflation. Among managers, the increase was slightly more moderate at +4%, but with a higher increase of 2.1 points compared to the previous year.
This trend may well continue next year. The increase forecasts for 2024 are still very high, although slightly down on this year: +4% for OETAMs and +3.5% for managers.
The persistence of inflation is a first explanation. “If it tends to fall, it still remains high and the translation into energy or food prices is not immediate. The repercussions are part of a longer period,” analyzes Franck Cheron, human capital partner at Deloitte and author of the study.
Added to this are the labor shortages which persist even if they are receding somewhat. At the Medef summer universities earlier this week, many business leaders pointed to hiring difficulties. “All companies, at some point in the year, have had difficulty hiring”, confirms Franck Cheron. In this tense context, particularly in certain professions such as cybersecurity, the phenomenon of scarcity has its effect. Faced with the difficulty of recruiting the profiles corresponding to their expectations, companies are ready to increase remuneration, and this is directly reflected in the salary increase figures.
Questions about the value-sharing bonus
“It should also be noted that the production tool started again this year with a need for companies to have employees, technicians and supervisors to run this tool”, adds the author of the study.
In this context, companies have not skimped on the salary budget and this should continue in 2024, according to the consulting firm which had access to the estimated budget of the companies observed.
Companies have made extensive use this year of the value sharing bonus (“Macron bonus”) in order to boost purchasing power. More than 50% of them have used it (compared to 29% in 2022) with amounts greatly increased from 300 euros in 2022, to 600 euros on average for OETAMs and 800 euros for managers.
Companies have played the game, well helped by significant exemptions. This will probably be less the case next year. “We can expect less use of the value-sharing premium,” according to Franck Cheron.
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