According to information released by Career Journal, a recent Towers Perrin survey indicates that salary budgets in the United States are set to "increase an average of 3.9% in 2008 — the same increase employers reported in 2007. The survey of 4,000 companies in 60 countries highlights a growing shift in the way companies pay employees. Rather than awarding increases in fixed pay, they are increasingly tying pay raises to employee performance, human resources consultants say."
As expected, the gap is widening between the raises awarded to top and bottom performers. Top-rated employees received an average raise of 5.6% in 2007, while the lowest-rated performers received only 1.8%, according to human-resources consultant Mercer.
Many countries in the Towers Perrin survey are expecting larger-percentage increases in salaries than in the U.S. Not surprising, in India, salaries are expected to rise 15% next year, compared with 14% in 2007. In China, employers are projected to award raises of 9%, up from 8% this year.
Source: Career Journal, http://careerpath.org/salaryhiring/hotissues/20071214-athavaley.html
– Jan Melnik, MRW, CCM, CPRW, President, Absolute Advantage