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Fin24 writes that Old Mutual's Remchannel unit reports that average wage increases are beating the consumer price index (CPI), though they are not necessarily keeping pace with a sharp rise in essentials, such as food.
Its April 2024 salary and wage survey, which is published biannually, shows average pay increases granted so far this year at local companies averaged 6.09%, while average CPI was 5.45% and anticipated increases 5.85%. The Remchannel survey covered 55 participants employing approximately 417,000 people across the unlisted companies (60%), JSE-listed companies (25.5%), government and quasi-government (7.25%), and dual- or offshore-listed (7.25%) sectors. The report shows that the rise in the cost of necessities has been rapidly outpacing CPI for several years. For example, in 2023, headline CPI averaged about 6% annually, while food inflation averaged 10.9% and electricity and fuel price growth averaged 11.8%. Remchannel’s Lindiwe Sebesho commented that “the economic challenges that result in high indebtedness will persist, even though salary increases are now more aligned with the core CPI." She reported that they were seeing more employers giving employees early access to their salaries, known as earned wage access. This means that employers are now paying workers more frequently than once a month, helping them manage their needs more effectively. Employers are also increasingly offering soft loans to employees, which offer more favourable terms than traditional bank loans.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Garth Theunissen at Fin24
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