Pay rises resume for manufacturing workers

Among them, almost two thirds said that the increases were in line with inflation, while a further one in 20 stated pay rises were above the rate of inflation. Steve Gee, managing director of the firm's manufacturing division, said it was encouraging to learn that employees within the manufacturing sector were beginning to see an increase in their pay packets. "The last few years have been challenging to say the least, hopefully this is a sign that things have begun to pick up," he added. The Business Barometer has also revealed that almost 21% of manufacturing firms anticipate giving workers a pay rise within the next 12 months. The survey also showed that almost one in 10 manufacturing firms had been declined access to bank lending in the past six months, and a further one in ten admitted that while they had identified opportunities for growth, they had been unable to take advantage of them due to a lack of adequate funding.