Revealed: The most likely pay rises in 2026

Staff are most likely to see their pay rise by the same amount as last year, new data shows.

Some 44% of bosses intend to award a similar wage increase, while 28% will compensate employees more generously.

Another 28% say their workers face a smaller pay rise than last year.

The figures come from a survey of 121 firms - employing 2.8 million people - carried out by Incomes Data Research (IDR).

The findings indicate more than three-fifths of pay awards are likely to be worth between 3% and 3.99%.

"Inflation is currently higher than it was a year ago and this has applied upward pressure on pay to some extent and the findings from our poll show that inflation continues to figure relatively highly in employers' concerns," says Zoe Woolacott from IDR.

(c) Sky News 2026: Revealed: The most likely pay rises in 2026