Over 40% of respondent 150 companies still had their offices closed at the beginning of June and half of companies established teams to work in shifts, at the office, in factories, stores, on terraces and in hotels.
Nearly 60% of companies have already implemented the wage raises planned for 2020 or are about to do that soon. A quarter of companies have decided to do that in the second half of 2020 and lay in wait against the backdrop of uncertainty caused by the economic context. Two in ten firms seek to freeze salaries.
In 2020, the average wage raise is 5% for all categories of employees, that is, for companies which have planned such measures.
In terms of added compensation for employees working at company offices to ensure essential activities, just 12% of the companies polled grant added benefits or bonuses. Most companies have kept salaries unchanged.
With respect to employee benefits packages, most companies do not wish to make major changes in their employee benefits packages, but a growing number of firms are looking into the possibility of keeping or implementing benefits that increase employees’ protection against COVID-19.
The most affected budgets are those allocated for training (47% of companies have cut training budgets and 6% have eliminated them altogether) and teambuilding activities (34% of companies cut related budgets and 43% have eliminated them). Nine in ten 10 companies offering life or accident insurance, private health insurance, private pensions or company cars have not eliminated these benefits.
Also, 20% of companies have decided to introduce in their employee benefits packages an insurance-based protection in case of COVID-19 infections, and 17% of companies introduced employee assistance programs (EAP), compared with 65% which already had them included in employee benefits packages.
Seven in ten companies plan to keep staff levels and are looking for solutions to do that, 16% of companies want to increase staff numbers and 14% are considering job cuts in the upcoming period. Only 3% of companies have not yet made a decision in this respect.
The poll was conducted between May 26 and June 2 and compiled the answers of 154 respondent companies.