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REDMOND, WA - April 15, 2008 - Despite a US economy facing ballooning medical and energy costs, ever-increasing federal debt, and slumping housing and financial sectors, the early look at 2009 from ERI Economic Research Institute's evergreen Salary Increase Survey reports an average salary budget increase of about 4% for 2009, down only slightly from the 2008 level of 4.1%. While this may appear to be a minor decrease, it may be significant because it represents a distinct change in direction, as recent years have seen modest increases in salary and incentive budgets.
The salary increase received by any individual employee may be very different from 4%, as increases tend to be more and more based on what a person does and the industry of their employer. In general, individuals who earn less are seeing lower increases, while more skilled and higher earning individuals within certain job groups receive more.
"The quickest way for companies to cut payroll costs is to lay off personnel," reports Dr. David J. Thomsen, ERI Director. "This will be followed by those who freeze salaries across the board and we are not seeing that yet. US companies are in a bind for talent and skilled knowledge workers. ERI is looking, but we’ve not seen evidence of anything other than concern about the pay of key staff, from those of our 15,000 subscribers who are entering data into our ongoing Survey. There’s no recession for key skills and talent. The major disconnect is between wage increases and what’s happening with cost-of-living."
ERI Economic Research Institute has been providing estimates of salary structure, budget, and merit increases since 1987. ERI uses this data in its Assessor Series® compensation survey software, which creates reports and analyses used by subscribers to set pay for more than 10 million employees. While other salary increase reports are based on information from a limited number of organizations on what they are projecting to pay (for example, traditional surveys ask what increases are projected for January 2009), ERI collects data throughout the year from its subscribers, allowing a continuously updated and detailed report that tracks trends much more precisely. The 2009 ERI Salary Increase Report released in March 2008 finds that US employers will award average pay increases of 4.0% in 2009, slightly less than they have granted or plan to grant in 2008 (4.1%). According to Dr. Thomsen, "Salary increase plans might also be modified, for example, when key employees are asked to do more with fewer staff resources; we are already seeing that with the growth in unemployment. And we are still seeing certain skills groups experiencing 6 -7% increases, perhaps because of the freeze on H -1B visas and the fact that the US educational system is training our youngsters for non-existent jobs."
| | Budgeted | Projected |
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| Last Year | Next Year |
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| All Employees | 4.1% | 4.0% |
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| Executive | 4.4% | 4.3% | | Middle Management | 4.4% | 4.3% | | Professional | 4.4% | 4.3% | | Technician | 4.4% | 4.3% | | General - Nonunion | 4.4% | 4.3% |
The detailed findings reveal the variation within these averages: - By Industry: Employees in Petroleum and Coal, Healthcare, and Consulting Services should expect higher than average increases, while those in Real Estate, Air Transportation, and Paper/wood Products will lag (ERI's Assessor Series tracks 1,600 SIC and NTEE industry categories).
- By State: Employees in Vermont will receive slightly higher than the average increases, while those in Wyoming and West Virginia should expect less.
The complete 343-page 2009 ERI Salary Increase Survey provides information on what increases were paid last year and what is expected for the coming year by industry, broad job function, individual job title, and geography (US and individual states; Canada and its territories and provinces is a separate report). To order or find more information, visit www.erieri.com or call 800-627-3697. ERI Assessor Series subscribers can access this ERI Salary Increase Report for free.
About ERI Economic Research Institute
ERI Economic Research Institute, Inc. is a leader in compensation and job content information. With data gathered from online surveys and an extensive survey library, ERI's staff of 60 researchers provides subscribers with assessments of salaries, relocation cost, cost-of-living comparisons, and executive compensation. ERI's compensation databases contain 20 years of collected data, covering the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries throughout Europe. ERI subscribers include the American Red Cross, Alaska Airlines, Monster Worldwide, Aon Consulting, Honda, Amtrak, Adidas America, Inc., the IRS, CIA, and United Nations. ERI's products include the Salary Assessor®, Geographic Assessor®, Relocation Assessor®, Executive Compensation Assessor®, and Nonprofit Comparables Assessor™ software and Occupational Assessor, eDOT®. For more information about ERI and its products, visit www.erieri.com.
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