The financial services sector is at the forefront of offering one-off pay increases to help staff - especially those in the lower paid bracket - cope with the rising cost of living, as household incomes are squeezed by inflation that has hit a four-decade high.
The UK arm of HSBC has stated that approximately 17,000 of their lower paid employees - which amounts to around half of their UK staff - will receive a £1,500 bonus in August.
Around eleven thousand UK based staff at Spanish bank Santander who earn less that £35,000 - which equates to around 60% of the workforce - will receive a 4% pay rise to help combat rising inflation. The bank will also increase entry level salaries to £19,500.
Chief Executive of Santander, Mike Regnier, said the pay raise would “make a real difference to the majority of our customer-facing and contact centre staff”.
Meanwhile, Barclays Plc has offered a £1,200 boost for 35,000 UK-based staff, whilst Natwest Group Plc is giving those earning less than £32,000 a pay rise of 4% from September.
Visa gave a 5% pay increase to staff in the UK from July and Lloyds Banking Group Plc pledged to pay staff an additional £1,000 this summer.
In addition to a salary increase and a bonus already paid to colleagues in March, around 4,500 of employees at banking firm TSB - those who take home up to £35,000 a year and who make up about 76% of the workforce - are to receive a £1,000 bonus. This will be made in two stages, with £500 paid out in October and the remaining £500 next February.
Workers Trade Union Unite took credit for securing the payout and National Officer Caren Evans stated:
“Unite was able to successfully demonstrate to TSB that the lowest paid members of staff are struggling to meet their costs of living. The agreement announced today is welcome news for over 4,000 staff, and the £1,000 payment will be given to all those regardless of whether they are full- or part-time workers.”
In response, a spokesperson for TSB said:
“We know that the rising cost of living is a concern for many of our colleagues, so we will be supporting eligible colleagues this winter with an additional cost-of-living payment of £1,000.”
Unite also said it had helped secure a pay rise for Virgin Money employees and that they would continue to campaign to make sure wages increased in line with inflation.
