More than 14,000 Rolls-Royce employees will be given a £2,000 lump sum payment to help with the rising cost of living in the UK. The engineering firm said the payments would be primarily to junior management and shop staff based at the Derby and Bristol sites.
One-time payment to 3,000 employees in their August salaries will be introduced. The remaining 11,000 unionized workers will receive the compensation after their union approves the amount.
Earlier this month, Lloyds Bank announced measures to help employees cope with rising costs as energy bills continue to increase and UK inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%. A Rolls-Royce spokesman told the BBC that 70% of its UK workforce would receive pay, adding that the company is “offering our shop floor employees the highest annual wage increase for at least a decade.”
Discussions are underway with unions about a wage agreement for 2022-2023, the spokesperson said, and the issue of cost of living is a factor in those talks.
Wage rates and measures to help UK workers are rising as official data showed there were fewer jobless people than job vacancies for the first time since records began. Lloyds Bank employees were offered a £1,000 lump sum to help cover rising costs after Unite the Union demonstrated outside its annual general meeting last month.
Inflation – the rate at which prices rise – is currently at 9%, and is expected to rise again later this year. Rolls-Royce was hit hard by the global coronavirus pandemic, which halted demand for its aircraft engines as international air travel ground to a halt.
In the company’s latest trading update, chief executive Warren East said the company’s financial performance had improved in 2021 and it had made “significant progress on the path to recovery from the impact of Covid-19”.
“We are confident that we have positioned the business to achieve positive profit and cash this year, driven by the benefits of our cost reductions and increased engine flying hours in civil aerospace together with a strong performance in defence and power systems,” he added.
Staff shortages are also putting pressure on firms to raise wages.
Earlier this month, Morrisons said it would increase pay for its store workers as UK supermarkets battle for staff in the face of increasing competition in the sector.
Rival chains Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda have also announced pay rises for their workers this year.
