More than three quarters of employers expect the need to retain staff to be a major driver of pay rises in the coming year, according to a new survey.
The study, conducted by professional development body CIPD Ireland and Industrial Relations News, found that 76% of employers saw retention as central to their pay plans.
The majority - 72% - of employers said they had increased pay in the past year.
Nearly 40% said those increases had gone beyond what they had initially planned, with the survey finding that base pay had increased by an average of 4.64% in the past year.
Meanwhile 50% of employers said they had used retention payments as a way of countering other job offers that had been received by staff.
In the coming year, the majority of employers - 51% - plan to give pay rises. Base pay is expected to increase by an average of 3.46% in the next 12 months.
The survey also found that employers are increasingly turning to non-pay benefits as a way of retaining staff.
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Director of CIPD Ireland Mary Connaughton said that employers know they need to look after the staff they have.
She said it was clear that businesses are aware of this and they are making great efforts to keep staff, particularly in light of the figure showing almost 80% see recruitment as one of the big issues for next year.
