4 in 10 ‘too scared’ to ask for payrise

12/09/2008

Workers find their bosses so intimidating they are too scared to ask for a payrise, a suvey has found.

More than 40% of PAs and secretaries ‘do not feel comfortable’ approaching their boss to ask for more money, the report by office support recruiter Crone Corkill found.

The organisation said because of this, most workers would rather wait and see if they were offered a salary increase rather than request one.

Almost a third of respondents to the survey said they would ‘sometimes’ be willing to approach their employer to ask for more money, ‘but this would depend on his or her workload and stress level at the time’.

Encouragingly, though around a fifth said they have no need to ask, because ‘they are often rewarded’ for their hard work.

Tracy Durant, managing director at Crone Corkill, said the results of the survey were surprising.

“Many workers said they would have to judge their boss’s workload first, so they obviously know them well enough to know when is a good time and when isn’t.

“Discussing workplace and employment issues is important and office support staff should see it as a vital element in building a strong working relationship, which employers will value,” she said.