Despite economic uncertainty, most workers still plan to ask for a raise

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Dive Transient:

• Motivated by inflation, rising tasks and a sense of being underpaid, practically two-thirds of staff plan to ask for a elevate earlier than the tip of the yr, in line with a survey of greater than 1,000 staff and a couple of,000 HR leaders from expertise agency Robert Half. One-third of respondents stated they plan to search for a brand new job in the event that they don’t obtain a elevate.
• Firms appear to be feeling the strain, with practically half saying that assembly worker wage expectations is a high hiring problem. To beat the competitors, 51% stated they’re growing beginning salaries, 40% are providing signing bonuses and 36% are providing retention bonuses. 
• Firms are additionally leaning on wage transparency. Six in 10 stated being clear about wage in job postings helps entice high candidates and edge out rivals. And 4 in 10 respondents stated they anticipate to see a wage vary in job postings.

Dive Perception:

As employer plans for 2024 wage budgets evolve, staff don’t look like backing down on their calls for. Staff’ sense of energy, a theme all through the pandemic, has not flagged a lot regardless of shifting financial winds over the previous yr. 

Companies dolled out massive pay raises in 2023, constructing on main progress in wage funding that began in 2022 and has been pushed by elements like inflation and a decent labor market. Whereas these components have loosened their grip on the economic system, employers have typically not deliberate to drastically cut back their funding in salaries, surveys all year long have proven.

A latest Mercer ballot discovered that employers plan to gradual wage progress barely in 2024 — to three.9% from 4.1% in 2023. However that continues to be larger than the everyday annual threshold of three%, exhibiting employers could also be adjusting to worker expectations over the long run.

“To draw and retain high expertise — notably in an unsure economic system — it’s crucial for employers to benchmark salaries and compensation packages, think about choices for hybrid work, and make use of methods to bolster worker engagement and morale,” Daybreak Fay, operational president of Robert Half, stated in an announcement. 

Firms that could be struggling to fulfill excessive pay expectations might be able to elevate their aggressive edge by embracing flexibility; workers have reported they’d go as far as to take a pay lower with the intention to do business from home.