Workers to get three percent median pay raise this year

Every now and again, workers are treated to a pay raise, an incentive to keep up the good work and a reward for contributing to a company’s success during their tenure there. The median pay raise for this year, according to the Hay Group, a business consultancy firm, should be a rather middling 3 percent.

Analysis firm predicts 3 percent pay raise for most workers

It is fairly common in most places of employment or industries for workers to get a pay raise at some sort of frequency. Sometimes it’s annually, sometimes quarterly and sometimes it’s something the boss keeps meaning to get to but never does. For some people, regular pay raises are part of the contract; a federal pay raise is usually an annual event for everyone employed by the government. Sometimes it’s called off when not politically expedient.

This year’s annual pay raise, according to ABC, is projected by the Hay Group, a business analysis and management consultancy firm, to be 3 percent for most workers. Granted, it’s not exactly a lot; however, it should be a moderate bump as core inflation, according to the Huffington Post, was 1.7 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

In line with previous estimates

Last year, according to CNN, a similar estimate was released by Mercer, another business analysis company. That year, the announcement of raises was a welcome relief in the face of stagnant employment conditions, as 97 percent of businesses surveyed by the group indicated they were giving their employees a raise. The median pay raise was going to be a 3 percent boost, compared to 2.9 percent in 2010 and 2.7 percent in 2009. Not a huge cash advance, perhaps, but every little bit helps.

However, the exact amount of the pay raise for employees in the Hay Group’s survey, according to ABC, vary across sectors. In total, 80 percent of the 350 businesses in the company’s survey were getting raises, which varied from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. Luxury retailers and oil and gas companies reported the largest increases, with a median salary increase of 3.3 and 3.5 percent, respectively, among surveyed companies in those industries.

Still down from a decade ago

Salary boosts have gotten smaller with tougher economic times, as Hay Group’s survey in 2000 revealed a median pay increase of 4.4 percent. Increases of 4 percent or more were considered the norm up until the past few years, and some consider a 3 percent annual raise to be the new normal.

A 3 percent median raise has held steady in Hay Group-surveyed businesses since 2009, according to the Huffington Post. In 2008, the median pay increase had been 3.8 percent.

Sources

ABC

Huffington Post

CNN