UK bonuses almost at pre-crisis levels
26/08/2015
Bonuses UK workers received in the year 2014/15 were almost as high as pre-financial crisis levels, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures show that in 2014/15 bonuses were only 0.1% below the record level they reached in 2007/08. In the finance and insurance sector, bonuses were below pre-financial crisis levels, but in the rest of the economy, bonuses received were “considerably higher” than before the crash. Overall, workers in the UK received £42.4 billion in bonuses, which is up 7% from last year.
Professional, scientific and technical services were the sectors with the largest increases in bonuses, which were up £0.9 billion on last year. Information and communication services also saw a rise of £0.5 billion.
Insurance and finance industries saw their bonuses fall by £1.5 billion. The ONS said this was partly due to the industry being more prone than others to concentrate their payments into a December-to-March 'bonus season', and in 2013, a number of bonus payments were deferred from March into April. It said:
"The 2013-14 figure in the [financial and insurance] sector might have been atypically high, with some employees receiving payments both in April 2013 and March 2014, twice within the same reporting period."
It continued: “This left payments in finance and insurance over £5bn below their 2007-08 peak of £18.7bn, but those in the rest of the economy about £5bn ahead of the pre-downturn peak of £23.8bn."
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