Depending on the country, 32-43% of the employed in the region will look for another job if the salary increase is not raised.
In the Central and Eastern European region, most employees consider a wage increase of between 20-30% necessary in 2023 to compensate for inflation, but depending on the country, 60-77% of them have not yet received information about the increase from their employer. Only 7-9% of the employed would be satisfied with the increase of various benefits on top of the salary, 32-43% would look for another job if their salary does not increase.
Wherewework Group, which operates employee and employer platforms in 14 countries, conducted a regional survey of expectations regarding wage increases in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Moldova. During the research, employees were interviewed from all major economic areas (e.g. energy, IT, finance, hospitality, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, construction, media and culture, etc.).
The amount of the expected salary increase in 2023
In four of the five countries surveyed, most employees (17% to 37%) said they needed a 20% to 30% pay rise this year in order for their pay to maintain its purchasing power. The exception is Greece, where due to more favorable inflation data, according to the majority of employees, a 10-15% increase would be sufficient. Among the countries examined, the other extreme is represented by Moldova, where 32% of employees would request a raise of 30-50%, and 21% would request a raise of more than 50%.
Can employees expect the expected salary increase?
In terms of expectations, Hungarian and Romanian workers are the most optimistic, with 62 and 53 percent respectively expecting a wage increase this year, followed by Bulgaria with 45 percent, Moldova with 40 percent, and Greece with 39 percent. However, at the time of the survey, the majority of employees in the region had not yet received information from their employer that their salary would be higher in 2023. Most people received information about an increase due this year in Hungary (41%), followed by Greece (34%), Moldova (29%), Romania (26%), and Bulgaria (23%).
What are you planning to do if you don’t get a raise?
Depending on the country, 32-43% of the employed in the region will look for another job if the salary increase is not raised, and 12-22% answered that they would take on a second job in this case. According to the research, 42% of employees in Hungary would look for a new job in the event of no increase and 14% would look for a second job. The fewest employees in Romania think about looking for a second job (12%), here more would rather try to initiate further negotiations with their managers (19%). Depending on the country, 7-9% of employees would consider it acceptable to increase various benefits (packages containing meal cards, health, pension, life insurance, etc.). The survey also reveals that in the examined markets, there are the fewest in Moldova (18%) and the most in Hungary (30%), who do not have a plan in case the increase is missed.
What wage development business policy is typical in the countries of the region?
According to the survey, Hungary has the highest percentage of employees for whom their workplace provides a regular annual salary increase (58%), and Greece has the highest percentage of employees who work in a workplace where a higher salary can only be obtained based on case-by-case salary negotiations (59%). Moldova has the highest percentage of workplaces where employees receive salary increases based on their results (34%). In Bulgaria, the proportion of companies providing annual salary increases is 34%, and 14% of the respondents reported that the annual salary increase at their workplace depends on the position. The proportion of those who receive a salary increase twice a year is highest in Romania (2%) and Bulgaria (1%), while in Hungary this proportion is below 1%.
To what extent does the lack of a raise affect the employees’ finances?
The survey also asked how employees judge their financial situation if they do not receive a raise. Based on the answers, the percentage of those who will be able to cope with inflation without limiting their spending is the highest in Romania (8.2%) and Moldova (7.6%), while in Hungary 5% of employees belong to this category. According to the survey, 53 percent of workers in Romania, 51 percent in Hungary, 38 percent in Bulgaria, 36 percent in Greece, and 34 percent in Moldova will be able to handle the situation with smaller or larger restrictions. The proportion of those who admit that they would be in a very difficult situation if they did not receive a salary increase, as their monthly expenses already make up a large part of their salary, is 36% in Bulgaria, 29% in Greece, 28% in Moldova, 23% in Hungary, and 17% in Romania. %.
“According to the results of our survey, the majority of employees in the region hope for a 20-30% wage increase this year, but only a small percentage of employers have informed them of the increase. This is an important signal for companies, especially since a significant proportion of people (32-43%) said that they will look for another job if they don’t get a raise,” says Costin Tudor, founder and CEO of Wherewework Group.
With 1 million users, the Wherewework Group, which operates Munkahelyeink.hu, is one of the largest employee and employer platforms in the Central-Eastern European, Middle Eastern and North African regions, and is present in Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine and Moldova , in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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