Around one in five Latvian employees is optimistic about the potential of receiving additional benefits from their place of employment to compensate for increases in electricity and heating costs, according to an October survey of Latvian residents by Citadele Bank.
19% of Latvians are expecting a compensation mechanism to cover rising energy prices, 6% of which reveal that they have had a pay raise or been receiving bonuses to cover increased living costs for several months now. The remaining 13% state that, although they have no specific information, they don’t rule out additional benefits from their employer.
The most likely to receive a pay raise or temporary bonuses are employees aged between 18 and 29, and 40 and 49. Most of those receiving bonuses are employed in Riga, the Greater Riga area or Kurzeme, while those in Zemgale are least likely to have received a pay rise or bonus.
The survey shows that these bonuses were most often given to managers, qualified workers and qualified specialists in various industries, while pay raises were most often given to those earning €751 and up, with pay raises occurring more often for those with higher wages. Office workers and those who work in service and retail with lower wages were less likely to answer positively regarding additional benefits.
Most respondents — 56% — do not expect to benefit from any compensation mechanism. Around one in five, or 22%, admit that their employer has no plans to help cover increased costs, while a further 34% state that there has been no information in this regard, but they are certain that they will receive no help.
“The increase in energy prices will be an enormous challenge for everyone, both employees and employers. The current heating season has caused higher bills for almost everyone in Latvia and will have a huge impact on the economy, which is why we invite employers to look for ways to support their employees and, at least in the short term, compensate their higher energy bills and cost of living. Citadele’s management has also just confirmed that it will be paying monthly bonuses to its employees throughout the Baltics until the end of the year. Furthermore, this support will be targeted, with bonuses being paid to those employees who earn less than the top quarter of wage earners in the Citadele Group,”
explains Liene Grūtupa, Head of HR and Legal at Citadele.
Citadele undertook the representative survey on whether Latvians can expect to receive cost of living compensation from their employer in October 2022, in collaboration with research agency Norstat. 1,008 people living in Latvia were surveyed online.
Citadele’s mission is to modernise the banking sector and offer more opportunities to private individuals and businesses throughout the Baltics. In the first half of 2022, Citadele had 368,000 active customers in the Baltics and issued €646 million in new loans, with its total loan portfolio reaching €2.9 billion, while total deposits reached €3.7 billion.
Alongside classic banking services, Citadele offers its clients a range of services based on next-generation financial technology, including its modern app, contactless payments and instant payments. Citadele was the first in the Baltics to introduce opening an account with a selfie, payment rings and payments to mobile numbers for private customers. Meanwhile, businesses make active use of our remote account opening, Citadele Phone POS card acceptance app and Klix universal e-commerce tool, as well as applying for financing to develop their business.
Citadele Bank is the Group’s parent company in Latvia, and its subsidiaries and branches operate in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
More information:
Kristīne Mennika
Head of Corporate Communications
AS “Citadele banka”
Tel. 26528533
Email: Kristine.Mennika@citadele.lv
www.citadele.lv
