‘Soft’ benefits such as flexible working arrangements or more training can make a big difference to our job satisfaction. But faced with the choice, employees still opt for a pay increase over those options, a recent survey suggests.
The global study by HR services provider NorthgateArsino asked 1300 global respondents to rank benefits from their job and their future salary expectations. The levels of expectation around getting a pay rise varied significantly (Asia-Pacific countries being rather more optimistic than the US or Europe). But a global pattern was evident: we’d all rather get a pay increase than a flexible work environment. Bottom-ranked of the six options discussed was a sabbatical, though that might also reflect a cynical realism: very few jobs will offer one so why hang out for it?
We’ve noted previously that benefits such as being allowed to use social networking can sometimes be unwittingly traded for a pay rise. This study suggests that at least some of us are alert to that.
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