Economic pressures contain salary increases A WAGE rise of 30% is way beyond even the best increases current in the freight industry, according to Lynn Ribton-Turner of Ribton-Turner Recruitment. She reports that, in certain of the skilled job areas of the industry, like exports - where there is currently a shortage of qualified staff - salaries have jumped. "This is because there has been a great demand for the likes of export controllers and supervisors," Ribton-Turner said. "Salaries have gone up over the last year because of the short supply." Salaries in imports - a trade area which is currently on a rapid decline - tend to compensate for this, she added. "These salaries were previously at premium but they have lately remained static." Productivity and headcount are two of the measures which dictate salaries, she told FTW. "A lot of the companies are controlled from overseas and these companies want productivity per capita for their money." And she feels that the headcounts in these companies have already been cut to meet the productivity output levels of the staff members. Added to that is the fact that recruitment has often been put on hold until the repercussions of the US attack have been cleared up. "So I don't know if it's a time when staff can expect more money," Ribton-Turner said. "These pressures are bound to contain salary levels."
