British bank HSBC plans to give some of its U.K. employees relief from rising prices in the form of a one-time payment added to their compensation in August.
For its lower-paid employees, HSBC will give £1,500 ($1,838), according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The hope is that the one-time boost for around 17,000 of the company’s employees will offset the rising cost of living in the U.K.
This comes less than a month after Virgin Money, another bank in the U.K., said it would give employees earning less than £50,000 ($61,268) annually, a one-time payment of £1,000 ($1,225). This payment is expected to be received by workers in late August, with the same goal of helping employees stay financially afloat.
The inflation rate in the U.K. hit 9.4% in June, propelled by rising food and gasoline costs.
The two companies above are not alone in their attempts to help lower-paid workers. There’s been an ongoing trend of banks in the U.K. offering some help to employees, mostly through one-off payments.
In July, Santander said it planned to implement changes so that U.K. workers earning less than £35,000 ($42,888) could qualify for a raise. The company will also increase its entry-level position salaries by nearly £1,000 ($1,225).
NatWest, a bank based in the U.K., made a similar move, and will raise its average pay £1,000 ($1,225) for more than 22,000 of its workforce.
In June, both Barclays and Lloyds Banking committed to giving their employees extra compensation—Barclays plans to give £1,200 ($1,470) to its U.K.-based staff, and Lloyds Banking Group plans to give an additional one-time payment of £1,000 ($1,225).
That’s six banks in the U.K. that hope their one-time extra pay and compensation increases will help employees who are struggling to adjust to current economic conditions.
