The report, The Global 50 Remuneration Planning Report, provides a breakdown of pay movements by job level, allowing roles around the world to be directly compared.
It found that for clerical roles and entry-level professionals, pay rises averaged zero and almost 1% respectively in the UK, which translates to a pay cut of 2.8% and 1.9% respectively when accounting for inflation.
However, the report claims that more senior employees such as experienced professionals received more substantial pay increases on average of nearly 6%, or over 3% above inflation.
The trend does not continue up the organisation, the report claims, with middle management pay moving more modestly at just under 2%, a real-term reduction of nearly 1%, the report claims.
Darryl Davis, senior consultant in Towers Watson's data service division, said: "The emerging pattern in the UK in the past 12 months shows base-pay rises at the bottom and top of organisations to be muted, whereas those in the middle are benefitting from more substantial increases.
"There is no question that companies have had their reward budgets squeezed this year and many are opting to use them to offer meaningful rewards to those they feel are likely to add the most value to the company, rather than spreading them thinly across the whole organisation.
He added: "Interestingly, pay increases do not keep on rising as roles become more senior. While base-pay rises for middle managers remain below inflation, they can be off-set by variable pay - such as bonuses - which play a more significant role in total reward packages at this level."
