Hourly rates fell 6 percent last year, survey of nearly 200,000 workers shows

The organisations calculated the average hourly wage of 185,000 people and found this had fallen from EUR 15.50 in 2012 to EUR 14.60 last year.

People working in the IT and financial sectors were particularly hard hit.

Average IT hourly rates fell by 8.5 percent while financial sector pay was down 7.9 percent.

Farm worker pay was also down by 6.6 percent.

Stability

Pay rates were most stable in hotel, catering and tourism, with just a 1 percent drop.

However, the average pay rate in the hospitality industry remains the lowest, at EUR 10.40 per hour.

Education and manufacturing have the highest hourly pay salary – EUR17.30.

Just under half the workers polled for the survey expect a pay rise this year, although 65 percent of IT staff expected to earn more.