Most professional workers unhappy with their pay, study suggests

Three out of five professional workers are unhappy with their pay, a new study suggests.

Jobs site CV-Library said its survey of 1,500 employees found that lawyers, teachers and new graduates were those most disappointed with their salaries.

Just over half of respondents said they had never tried to negotiate higher pay, despite not feeling happy with what they were earning.

Reasons included not wanting to risk losing their job or appear to be too “pushy”, although some felt they did not know how to negotiate.

CV-Library said pay was increasing in many sectors as firms struggle to recruit staff, especially in hospitality, marketing and computing.

This shift is already being reflected in the 2022 jobs market, with average salaries on the rise in 16 sectors in January 2022 so far, compared with January 2021.

Lee Biggins, chief executive of CV-Library said: “When the pandemic first struck, businesses held all the power and competition for top jobs was tougher than ever.

“However, in the last few months, we have seen this power shift back in favour of candidates and the year-on-year salary increases we are seeing across many industries already in 2022, substantiates this.

“Candidates should feel able to negotiate on salary without fear of losing out on an exciting opportunity.”