European Firms Shift Focus to Keeping and Teaching

Train & Retain: Employees at multinational companies in Europe shouldn’t expect big pay raises next year. According to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, only 16 percent of companies plan to increase salaries. Instead, companies are shifting their focus to retention, with career development considered a linchpin. Nearly 60 percent say they will funnel more money into training and development opportunities for employees. According to Mercer, which surveyed more than 430 European companies, 83 percent rank retention as their top concern heading into 2007.