And less than half of companies in Ireland \u201chave looked to, or plan to, improve employee experience\u201d, according to new research by global advisory firm WTW.<\/p>\n
Just 44pc are offering workplace flexibility, as well as changes to health and wellness benefits, an emphasis on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), and an increase in training opportunities is a focus for just 44pc of employers, the survey found.<\/p>\n
There has been a push away from remote working by some employers \u2013 including the major Irish banks \u2013 while Trump administration policies have produced a ripple effect that has threatened progress on equality in the workplace.<\/p>\n
The WTW research noted that average salary increase budgets for companies in Ireland in 2026 was expected to remain stable at 3.5pc \u2013 ahead of inflation and matching 2025\u2019s actual increases.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, the findings of the research show we are seeing similar salary increase figures for actual increases in 2025 and projected increases for 2026, indicating a steady increase in salaries,\u201d said WTW.<\/p>\n
\nOrganisations are being more deliberate about how they allocate pay<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe trend of stable salary increases in Ireland appears to be continuing into 2026,\u201d it said. \u201cIn 2025, 44pc of employers reported no change in their salary budgets compared to 2024, indicating a consistent approach in their financial planning,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
But the report noted that 39pc of employers had spent less on salary budgets in 2025 than in the previous year, while only 10pc of employers increased their salary budgets in 2025.<\/p>\n
Several factors had influenced a change to the salary budgets in Ireland in 2025, it said, with 36pc citing concerns related to cost management and the rising cost of supplies, 29pc anticipating a recession or weaker financial results and 21pc citing inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile top-line budgets are generally holding steady, the real shift is happening beneath the surface,\u201d said April McDonnell, the rewards data and intelligence (RDI) director at WTW.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrganisations are being more deliberate about how they allocate pay, where they focus investment and what outcomes they expect to drive.<\/p>\n
“Employers are no longer simply reacting to economic signals; they\u2019re reimagining how to best support broader business goals despite uncertainty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs employers navigate continued economic uncertainty, ongoing increases in labour costs and the changing needs and expectations of employees, they are positioning themselves for what is to come and making investments in their workforces that go beyond pay raises,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And less than half of companies in Ireland \u201chave looked to, or plan to, improve employee experience\u201d, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,33201,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-48925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-fearghal-oconnor","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}