When it comes down to it, money is a key motivator for many employees. However, the cost of living crisis and rising interest rates have put extra pressure on households. With more and more people feeling the pinch, it is no surprise that many workers have been striking and asking their bosses to increase their salaries.
‘How to ask for a pay rise’ is Googled 3,000 times every month. That is why we decided to dig a little deeper and find out which cities make the most searches for similar queries per 100,000 residents. Read on to find out which city has been crowned the ‘most salary-obsessed city.’
Top 5 Money-Motivated Cities
Here are the cities where employees are feeling extra pressure to bring home the bacon.
1. Chester
In the North West, salaries are 6.9% lower than the national average. So, it is no surprise that the residents of Chester are the most motivated to get a pay rise, making 442 monthly searches per 100,000 residents for terms, such as ‘how to ask for a pay rise’, ‘how to get a pay rise’ and ‘how to ask for a raise’.
2. Darlington
In the second spot is Darlington, which is in the North East of the UK. Data shows that annual earnings are the lowest for North Eastern employees, which may explain why approximately 433 monthly searches are made per 100,000 Darlington residents.
3. Bath
Earlier this year, Bath was named one of the most expensive places in the UK to buy your first home. This may explain why our research revealed that Bath is the third most salary-obsessed city in the UK, with 422 searches made every month.
4. Leamington Spa
In the fourth spot is Leamington Spa (420 monthly searches) where the average house price last year was £395,263. This is 5% higher than the national average.
5. Rochdale
Rochdale takes the fifth spot, with approximately 410 searches made per 100,000 residents.
The Least Salary-Obsessed Cities
Here are the cities where residents are not as concerned about asking for a salary increase.
1. London
Despite London being named one of the world’s most expensive cities to live and work in, Londoners appear to be pretty happy with their earnings. Our research revealed the residents of London are the least salary-obsessed, with only 29 searches per 100,000 residents. This may be due to the fact that Londoners receive the highest annual salary in the UK.
2. Birmingham
The UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham, is also the second least salary-obsessed city, with approximately 41 searches per 100,000 residents.
3. Liverpool
Even though Liverpool has been crowned one of the most expensive UK cities to live alone, it takes the third spot, with just 46 searches per month.
4. Nottingham
Employees in Nottingham also rank among the least motivated to get a pay rise, with 55 searches made per 100,000 residents.
5. Sheffield
In the fifth spot is Sheffield, with 58 monthly searches per 100,000 residents.
How to Ask for a Pay Rise
We spoke to Emma Dunning, one of the Directors at Pace HR, about our findings.
“Of course, pay is not the only thing that employees are concerned about right now,” she says. “But understandably, the current state of our economy means that many people want to ensure that they are being paid what they’re worth.”
“The hardest part of asking for a pay rise is figuring out how much more money you actually want to ask for. While you don’t want to come in too high, you definitely don’t want to undervalue yourself.”
“It’s smart to look at what other people in your area with similar roles and experience are earning,” she suggests. “You can do your own research on job sites or ask an HR consultant about the potential salary you can command and use this as a benchmark when negotiating.”
“Naturally, you may want to put your foot down during the negotiation,” she adds. “However, remember that people respond better to people they connect with. So even if you are not planning to ask for a pay rise anytime soon, it always helps to have a rapport with your manager or director.”
“Don’t forget, your boss may expect you to take on more to justify your pay rise. So, think about the additional responsibilities you’d be willing to take on before asking for a salary increase,” she advises.
“This will help to sweeten the deal and show your boss that you are thinking about your long-term career goals, not just money.”
Michael Doolin, Founder of Clover HR, also weighed in. He says:
“When entering salary negotiations, you need to be fully prepared. Having examples at the ready will make your case more convincing. Think of instances where you have stepped up to the plate and delivered results. The more facts and statistics you have, the more likely you are to get the pay rise you are after.”
If you want to take your business to the next level so that you can pay your employees more, get in touch with our digital marketing team to see how we can help you generate more sales and leads.
Methodology
Avid Panda made a list of some of the most Googled queries related to asking for a pay rise. Google Keyword Planner was then used to get the monthly search volumes for each query across the UK's 100 most populated cities (excluding London boroughs). Search volumes were normalised per 100,000 residents. We then ranked each city based on the normalised search data and the city with the most searches per 100,000 residents was crowned the ‘most salary-obsessed city in the UK’.
If you would like to access the complete dataset, get in touch with lance@avidpanda.com.