An industry under pressure! Insights from HAI’s Wage Rate Survey

Hardware Association Ireland has recently published the results of its Wage Rate Survey for Retailers and Builders Merchants and have this week shared these results with its members. The results reveal an industry under pressure against rising wages and their knock-on effects of existing staff and recruitment.

Our latest Wage Rate Survey for hardware retailers and builders merchants has uncovered significant pressure from rising wage costs, affecting not only current staff but also recruitment and overall operational expenses.

Key highlights this year include:

• 80%+ have increased their wages this year (up from 68% in 2023)
• 85% of respondents have been impacted by the increase in the National Minimum Wage since January this year.
• 60%+ of respondents claim to be short of staff – up from 46% last year
• 80% of respondents are experiencing constraints to hiring

Businesses in our industry are facing increasing pressure in the face of rising costs of business. If implemented these costs will severely damage the profitability of the sector and result in further increases in the costs of housing and a collapse in Corporation Tax paid by the sector.

With Budget 2025 just around the corner, it’s clear that more needs to be done to support businesses in our industry. We need measures that address these wage pressures and help ensure the long-term viability of hardware retailers and builders’ merchants.

In our Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2025 we are strongly campaigning for measures to combat rising costs of business.

• Reduce PRSI in the sector to 1%.
• CGT Retirement Relief on transfer to family members, changes been made in January 2025. We would propose the removal of the €10 million lower limit.

We look forward to engaging further with Government to discuss these measures and other ways of combatting the increasing pressure the sector is facing.

If you are a HAI member and would like to view the report in full please contact aoife@hardwareassociation.ie or call 01 2980969.