Almost a third of UK adland still experiencing salary cut

Nearly one in three UK adlanders is still receiving a reduced salary, more than six months after the country went into lockdown, new research suggests.

Of more than 2,000 Campaign UK readers who responded to an online survey, 31.2% said they were still earning reduced pay. A further fifth (21.4%) said they  had previously taken a pay cut, but it had come to an end. 

Less than half (47.3%) have not had to take a pay cut at any point this year.

When the impact of the pandemic and national lockdown began to be felt in March and April, many businesses took a number of steps to reduce staff costs.

As well as taking advantage of the government’s furlough scheme, these moves included a reduction in hours and corresponding pay cut, or a salary sacrifice, with normal pay traded in for other benefits such as shares. Other employers, however, imposed pay cuts with no form of compensation.

Earlier this month, Publicis Groupe, which owns Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Zenith and Starcom, ended its temporary pay cuts. Employees took a 20%, 15% or 10% reduction in salary, depending on seniority, in April.

At WPP the cuts ended sooner – in July. The pay cuts of between 10% and 20% came into force at the end of March. 

Daily Mail and General Trust's salary sacrifice for shares scheme also ended in July. 

The furlough scheme, known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which pays up to 80% of a salary up to £2,500 a month, is due to stop at the end of October.