Pay rises for senior managers reach 7.5%

(First Edition)

SENIOR MANAGERS earning pounds 52,000 a year are receiving pay increases of more than double the inflation rate, according to analysis published today.

Top executives are enjoying rises of 7.5 per cent compared with the 3.7 per cent increase in the Retail Price Index registered in August.

The average rise for all managers is between 6 and 7 per cent, according to the research group Employment Conditions Abroad, at a time when other studies show that wage increases for all employees are running at little more than 4 per cent.

The analysis points out that some companies are still imposing wage freezes and although managers are receiving inflation-breaching rises, they were down on last year's average figure of 9 per cent.

Junior managers on about pounds 20,000 are receiving 6.6 per cent, middle managers earning pounds 27,000 a year are getting 5.8 per cent, and pounds 37,000 a year senior managers around 6.2 per cent.

The report says the finance sector continues to offer the highest salaries, with senior managers earning nearly 18 per cent more than the average for industry.

Leading executives in petrochemicals are close behind, earning around 15 per cent more than the norm. Senior managers in the service sector and engineering get about 10 per cent less than the average.

Company cars are still the favourite 'perk' with 94 per cent of companies providing them. Some firms, however, are turning to offering cash alternatives in anticipation of future changes in the taxation system.

On average, junior managers get a car worth about pounds 11,200, which costs their companies about pounds 245 a month. Middle managers receive vehicles with a price tag of pounds 13,680, costing pounds 350 a month to lease. The most senior executives get pounds 20,490 cars, costing pounds 585 a month.