Irish and Greeks will be the only workers without pay rise in 2013

Thomas Molloy

Increases in UK and Germany will be 3pc with lower hikes in rest of EU – survey

IRISH and Greek workers are the only employees in the world who won't get a pay rise next year, according to one of the world's largest salary advisers.

Employees here and in Greece will get nothing while most Europeans can expect modest rises in the New Year, according to Hay Group, a global management consultancy that specialises in pay and benefits. Workers in the world's emerging markets will see wages jump.

"Salary forecasts are typically lower than last year, reflecting troubled economic times in Europe," the consulting firm said following a survey of employee data from 20,000 organisations.

"Greece and Ireland are unsurprisingly the hardest hit. Fast-growing economies like Turkey and Russia buck the trend." Average pay rises across Europe are set to rise 3.3pc in 2013 compared with 5.5pc this year, Hay predicts.

Smallest

The smallest hikes will be in Spain (1.5pc), Portugal (1.7pc) and Lithuania (1.8pc). Britons are set to get a 3pc increase – the same as Germany and France. Other west European countries will also be subdued.

"Employees in developed markets face a tough year ahead, with pay rises falling behind – or barely outstripping inflation," said Hay product manager Ben Frost.

"Organisations in these countries are keen to minimise cost and drive productivity."

Wages in South America will rise by an average of 9pc, while Asia will see increases of 7.5pc as raging inflation forces employers to push up salaries.

North Americans will fare the worst with a rise of 2.9pc. Average salaries in the Middle East and Africa are set to rise by 5.2pc.

The biggest rises in Europe will be seen in eastern Europe where salaries in the Ukraine are set to jump 10pc. Russia will see increases of 9pc.

Across the world, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Ukrainians, Egyptians, Vietnamese, Indians and Indonesians are all set to get double digit increases.