Here you get paid – to go to work

In the UK, companies looking to do something about the current staff shortage are now taking an unexpected approach. Employees must be paid to work five days a week.

Now many companies in Great Britain are trying to fix the country’s huge staffing shortage – and are offering bonuses to those who stay in the office five days a week. Employees are paid only for going to work. It informs Bloomberg.

“Salaries have increased significantly for employees who can imagine working on site five or more days a week,” he says. James ReidReed, head of the recruiting firm, told Bloomberg in an interview.

Since November, wages in Great Britain have risen by 7.2 percent.

Lack of staff

There are staff shortages in many professional groups in the UK.

After Brexit, when labor immigration slowed, many low-paying industries lost workers. Since the pandemic, many people have become comfortable working remotely — and looking for jobs where possible.

So the demand for workers is particularly high in the healthcare and hotel and restaurant sectors – where employees cannot work remotely.

More requests can be made

The huge demand for staff in the UK means workers can now make demands of their employers, asking for more flexibility and more benefits. There has been a shift in the balance of power between employers and employees.

“It’s not just about money. There are also requirements related to flexibility”, he says Liz MartinsEconomist at HSBC Bank Plc in the UK, per Bloomberg.

And the demands are only increasing.

“One of our clients told us about a recruiter where a candidate requested a ‘duvet day’ for a month,” he says.

The so-called “duvet day” comes from the English word for duvet, and in short, you can ask your boss to stay home – if you don’t want to go to work. It’s different from a normal vacation because you don’t have to give advance notice. Many employers in Great Britain and the United States offer their employees one or two “duvet days” a month.

read more: Half of Germany’s companies report staff shortages [Dagens PS]