FRONT OF HOUSE
F
russia
uk
0.6
Payers of
the Year
1.3
germany
1.0
CHINA
egypt INDIA
0.6 5.0
3.2
brazil
-0.1
AUSTRALIA
0.2
rs over pay
Adjusted for inflation, in
real terms, UK salaries
are predicted to grow
by 0.6% in 2019, the
same rate as Canada
and the US, but lower
than the global average
of 1%. Overall, Asia
will see the highest
growth, with real-term
pay packets in China
and Singapore up 3.2%
and 3% respectively.
The Pacific region will
see the lowest overall
growth, Australia and
New Zealand will see
only a 0.2% and a 0.3%
rise respectively. And
despite a 4.2% increase,
with inflation at 4.3%,
workers in Brazil will end
up taking a -0.1% pay cut
in real terms.
Can you gig it?
Karl Marx’s vision was that, in the society of the future, extreme job
specialisation would come to an end. He would be able “to hunt in the
morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner,
just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or
critic”. It’s unlikely he had the ‘gig economy’ worker of today in mind, where
it’s more commonly TaskRabbit in the morning, Deliveroo in the afternoon
and Uber after dinner. But does the gig economy bring much needed
flexibility or cynical exploitation? Perhaps we just haven’t found the right
classification for it yet. Some companies are now experimenting with the
taxonomy in innovative ways. Couriers at Hermes, for example, now have the
option to opt for the category of ‘self-employed plus’, making them eligible
for holiday pay (pro-rata up to 28 days), and individually negotiated pay. On
the other hand, couriers who would rather keep their self-employed status
and earn premium rates for individual ‘gigs’ without those benefits can still
choose to do so. An interesting model for other employers to take note of.
March – May 2019
// 11