Whether you are buying food or filling your car with fuel, your salary is not stretching as far as it used to.

The Office of National Statistics has been conducting extensive research into the area and found that the lowest-priced everyday grocery items have gone up 17% during 2022, and a lack of disposable income has led to a 3% decrease in debit card spending.

Spending has decreased by 8% in entertainment and pubs, and 7% in restaurants and fast food, while private rental prices rose at record rates in all UK counties in 2022.

Once-off cost of living payments provided by some employers to their employees can momentarily help take the sting out of inflation, but more permanent salary adjustments are needed to make a lasting impact.

Bold move

In Japan, fashion retailer Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., which is owned by Tadashi Yanai, has responded to the cost of living crisis there by announcing a raise in wages by up to 40% to help ease the financial pressure employees face.

From March, new graduate employees will be paid ¥300,000 (£1,892) per month compared to ¥255,000 (£1,609) now, while managers will receive an increase of 36% to ¥390,000 (£2,460) per month.

Low pay has been an issue in Japan for many years, despite its economy being the third-largest in the world. In 2021, the average salary was £32,200, significantly below the OECD average of £41,846.

Closer to home

Here in the UK, compensation continues to inform hiring trends with one in five (22%) companies saying they plan to increase salaries in line with inflation, while 39% will give a flat-rate percentage increase. That is according to recent data, which also found that 78% of business leaders are aware that wage increases are necessary to retain talent. A third of business leaders revealed that they are now more likely to make counter offers to retain staff.

What can you do if your current employer is not open to discussing an increase in pay or even acknowledge that inflation means in real terms, now that you are earning less than you did a year ago?

Moving jobs might be the best solution—according to data compiled by Indeed and Glassdoor, more pay is the primary reason employees look for a new job. This is compounded by the fact that those who switch jobs tend to experience higher pay than those who stay put.

If you are starting your search, the Finextra Job Board is the ideal place to start. It’s filled with hundreds of opportunities like the three below.

Information/Cyber Security Data Scientist, Starling Bank, Cardiff

Starling Bank is looking for data scientists with experience in the areas of information and cyber security to help the bank solve complex problems using machine learning. As Information/Cyber Security Data Scientist you will be tasked with delivering data driven solutions and insights to improve the speed, efficiency, and quality of decision-making and work proactively with technical and non-technical teams to deliver insights to support the wider business.

Candidates should have experience applying anomaly detection techniques to big data (both structured and unstructured), using technologies such as Apache Spark, excellent skills in Python and SQL, and strong data visualisation and communication skills. View more details about this role here.

Integration Engineer, PayPal, London

The Integration Engineer is responsible for supporting PayPal’s enterprise merchant base, ensuring the merchant develops and launches a best in class solution to a reasonable timeline. In this role you will be required to interact directly with clients, merchants, partners and developers to recognise and articulate business requirements on how best to implement PayPal solutions, while adhering to PayPal guidelines and company policies. You will also be the voice of the customer and relay constructive feedback to product managers, engineering, technology, and other internal groups. See the full job description here.

Insurance Data Management and Reporting Architect, PwC, Birmingham

Insurance is currently going through a huge disruption and transformation and as a member of the insurance data practice, the Insurance Data Management and Reporting Architect will play a critical part in helping clients develop key policy and claim admin systems. This is a senior manager role, therefore the successful candidate will also be required to oversee the work of junior members of the team to ensure client deliverables are accurate and meet the needs of the client while also managing client and stakeholder relationships, complex situations and challenges. Applicants should have experience with end-to-end insurance data lifecycles, experience building data dictionaries, lineage and data quality strategies within the insurance sector and understanding of data management, data quality management and data strategies. See additional information about this opportunity here.

For hundreds more role in finance and tech, visit the Finextra Job Board today.