Soldiers attack 'unfair' 1% pay rise and warn they are facing 'perfect storm' of rising rents and tax hikes
Soldiers have warned that they have been left feeling "undervalued" and that the Army faces a recruitment crisis after the Government announced that they will receive a pay rise of just 1 per cent.
Serving members of the Army warned that they face the "perfect storm" of below-inflation pay rises, rising taxes and the prospect of increased rents.
They told the Armed Forces Pay Review Body that they are effectively getting a pay cut because of the rising cost of living and warned they could leave the services.
The pay review body warned that if the armed forces will face a recruitment crisis if the private sector continues to recover and inflation continues to rise.
The report says: "Many staff commented that the value of the overall offer had declined significantly in recent years and that the investment in new military equipment was not being matched by investment in Service personnel to operate or maintain it.
"In general, we heard about the lack of trust in the employer to maintain the offer in future, and an increasing feeling that people were not joining the services for a career, but to obtain training and skills before moving on to alternative (and possibly better paid) employment elsewhere."
While saying that the 1 per cent pay rise will "broadly maintain pay comparability with the civilian sector", the pay review body warned that there is a risk that it could "undermine operational effectiveness" in future.
It said: "On levels of pay generally, our visit programme made clear that Service personnel are becoming increasingly frustrated with public sector pay policy. They feel their pay is being unfairly constrained in a period when costs are rising, private sector earnings are starting to recover, and the high tempo demands on the Armed Forces have not diminished.
"If the private sector continues to recover and if inflation continues its upward trajectory, we could foresee recruitment becoming more challenging and morale being adversely impacted. If there was clear evidence of this, we would need to consider very carefully whether a one per cent average limit on base pay was compatible with continued operational effectiveness."
It said that the Government is already facing a significant skills shortage in areas such as engineering, where it said that "recruitment and retention is critical".
It said: "We consider it essential that MOD present us with specific proposals for engineers for the next pay round. Given the employment challenges for this group, and the persistent shortage of engineering skills in the external market, it seems likely that alongside other initiatives, bespoke pay solutions will be needed for some specialisations within these cadres."
The report added: "We know that there is a strong link between retention and the disruption of a predictable family life. We are therefore concerned that the continuing low levels of morale and the other factors impacting negatively on family life will sustain the historically high voluntary outflow rates, particularly for those with transferable skills who are highly sought after by civilian employers, able to offer more stable employment packages with a better work-life balance."
