A new iHire poll suggests 77.9% of employers gave pay raises in the past six months due to merit, performance, pay compression, or the rising cost of living. This implies that a majority of employers are prioritizing employee retention, engagement, and financial health despite economic downturn concerns.
Of the 436 employers who responded to iHire’s poll, just 22.1% had not given raises recently, citing the following reasons:
- 69.6% couldn’t afford to give raises.
- 32.6% were preparing for economic downturn or tightening their 2023 budgets.
- 13.0% reported poor or stagnant employee performance.
- 13.0% were unsure how to determine fair compensation.
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“Compensation is top of mind for employers and their workforces,” said Lisa Shuster, Chief People Officer at iHire. “Now is the time for organizations to ensure they are compensating employees fairly while avoiding pay compression. The good news is that most employers do not appear overly worried about a recession and continue to invest in their most valuable business asset: their people.”
iHire also surveyed 305 workers and found that 23.9% of respondents had asked for a raise in the past six months, and 60.3% got a raise upon asking.
Of the 76.1% of workers who had not asked for a raise:
- 50.0% already received a raise recently.
- 25.6% did not know how to negotiate salary.
- 23.2% were afraid to ask or approach their supervisor/manager.
- 11.0% did not think their performance was deserving of a raise.
“Employees should do their homework to know their worth and advocate for themselves when it comes to compensation,” said Lori Cole, Certified Career Coach and Advisor at iHire. “Researching average salaries for their career title in their industry and geographic location can equip them with the data to negotiate a fair salary with confidence. However, workers should also consider benefits such as flexible scheduling, remote work, health insurance, PTO, and more when making career decisions.”
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Related Resources
Need assistance with a pay audit or compensation analysis? Partner with iHire’s HR Services & Consulting experts or browse our Employer Resource Center.
Survey Methodology
436 employers and 305 workers in 57 industries across the U.S. responded to iHire’s poll in February of 2023. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth. For some questions, multiple answers could be selected so percentages add up to a sum greater than 100%.
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