Negotiate on pay even as employers are pulling back on pay rises

It’s not the news job seekers want to hear. Wage growth is cooling because employers need to curb salary inflation that’s become too hot to handle.

That said, there’s no advantage to being shy when it comes to money. Employers and recruiters rarely start with their highest offer and even if they won’t budge on salary, there are always other bargaining chips on the table.

Career coach Ciara Spillane spent a big chunk of her working life as a recruiter in the multinational sector before setting up her own business, Positive Prospects, in 2022. She says that unless job seekers negotiate, they’re likely to end up settling for a salary that’s less than they deserve and less than the employer was actually willing to pay.

“Always negotiate. Recruiters expect this and often have a buffer they can play with,” she says. “The reasons why people don’t negotiate usually come down to three things: lack of confidence, not knowing how to negotiate and presuming the employer’s offer is fair. It is possible to flip all of these reasons to get a better outcome.”

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[ Wage increases don’t come close to matching inflation - study ]

Serial job hoppers aside, most people do not get too much practice at honing their salary negotiating technique but, simple as it sounds, a good place to start is with the mirror. “People aren’t used to hearing themselves speaking out loud in this context so they immediately feel uncomfortable about doing so and that knocks their confidence straight away,” Spillane says.

“Stand in front of the mirror, or in front of your partner or a friend and practice the sort of phrases you might need such as: ‘I’m really happy to be offered this position and I’d really like to work here, but I’m disappointed with the salary you’re proposing. I was hoping for X as this would more fairly reflect my experience and what’s expected of me in this role.’

Even if they dig their heels in on money, there are other things you can negotiate for such as flexible hours, shares in the business, a car allowance, pension contributions or an early finish one day a week.”

The cardinal rule, however, is not to show your hand too early and to do good research in advance to make sure your expectations are realistic.

[ UK jobs market sees signs of cooling as wages remain under pressure ]

“Talk to friends and colleagues and check sites like Glassdoor to see what’s a fair salary for your experience and the type of role,” Spillane says. “Also, do not start negotiating until you have an offer. In the interview, if you are asked about your salary expectations, avoid saying an amount. Instead say you’d rather leave it up to them to make an offer. However, it is reasonable to ask what the salary band is for the position.

“Once you have an offer you are in a position of power. The employer has shown that they want you on the team so now you can start to negotiate.

“Think about the questions you might come up against if you ask for a higher salary such as ‘why do you think you deserve to be paid more?’,” Spillane says. “Have your answer ready along the lines of ‘based on my skills and the market rate, a salary of X is closer to my experience and expectations’.”

“The main thing is to negotiate in a respectful and calm way. No employer will think less of you for asking even if they can’t meet your demands. It shows you know what you’re worth and are willing to fight for it.”

Deciding how hard to negotiate may be trickier during 2023 than in previous years because employers have started applying the brakes to salary increases. Where possible. Irish-based global recruitment company Morgan McKinley published its latest Irish market salary guide at the beginning of the month and its global foreign direct investment director, Trayc Keevans, noted that businesses seem to be in a period of rebalancing, having seen wages rocket “by margins that appear unsustainable” in recent years.

Morgan McKinley is not anticipating the widespread wage growth that’s become the norm over the past two years, but it is still expecting salaries to rise. On average, the company is predicting an increase of 5 per cent with rises for niche and in-demand roles, specifically in technology, financial services and pharma, likely to be twice that or even more.

The big unknown quantity this year, however, is how continuing tech sector job losses will affect the market.

“We have yet to see the impact the cohort of talent in the technology sector who became displaced towards the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 will have on salaries,” Keevans says. “Early indications suggest that this talent is confident of securing their next job, but it is too early to foresee whether this trend will be for equal or lesser total compensation than they have enjoyed with the big technology employers.”

For women tech workers who recently lost their jobs, or indeed any woman going for a new role, Spillane has a word of advice. “Don’t shy away from negotiating and don’t accept the first offer,” she says. “It’s a generalisation but one I’ve found to be true. Men will always negotiate, women won’t. The problem with this is that it forms a pattern whereby when they move from job to job they are often presenting with a lower salary and their new offer is calculated based on this so it becomes a vicious circle.”