According to the latest Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode barometer, dedicated to cash flow, investment and growth in VSEs and SMEs, half of business leaders intend to increase salaries in 2022. At a time when companies are experiencing recruitment difficulties, their primary motivation is to "retain their employees".
An increase difficult to envisage for smaller companies
For several months now, the issue of wages has been front and center in factories and workshops, where employees have been demanding increases. The 2.2% increase in the minimum wage (SMIC) on October 1 has intensified these demands, which are normally made as part of the mandatory annual negotiations.
While expectations are high, VSEs and SMEs are nonetheless cautious, as revealed by the latest quarterly Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode barometer "Cash flow, investment and growth in SMEs and VSEs". In fact, only one in two VSE/SME managers expects to increase salaries in 2022.
The smaller the company, the less likely it is that an increase will be envisaged: 68% of managers who expect a pay rise within the year are at the helm of SMEs with 10 or more employees, while 46% run VSEs.
Executives who do not plan to increase salaries cite insufficient results as the main reason, in 57% of cases. 48% of them explain that they prefer to grant additional remuneration (bonuses or profit-sharing, for example).
Increase salaries to avoid recruitment difficulties
On the other hand, the 50% of VSE-SME managers who plan to increase salaries in 2022 seem very aware of the current recruitment difficulties, as 75% of them are motivated by the desire to " retain their staff ".
48% of business leaders surveyed, among those who had decided to implement an increase, wanted to enable their employees to maintain their purchasing power, while 32% justified future salary increases by the desire to " reward performance ". Only 4% of VSE-SME bosses stated that they wanted to increase wages in response to employee demands.
Of those executives who have decided to increase salaries in 2022, 63% are planning higher increases than in the 3 years prior to the health crisis. 33% intend to apply identical increases, and 5% lower increases.
According to the Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode barometer, taking into account the fact that 50% of managers do not wish to increase salaries in 2022, the average salary increase for VSE-SME employees should be 2.2% this year.
At the same time, to cope with the rise in raw material prices, 58% of VSE-SME managers plan to increase their sales prices this year. Among them, 88% expect to apply a higher increase than the average observed over the 3 years preceding the health crisis.
Taking into account the 38% of VSE-SME managers who don't plan to increase their selling prices, and the 4% who even intend to lower them, VSE-SME selling prices should rise by an average of 3.8% in 2022, according to the Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode barometer.