According to the 2007/2008 U.S. Compensation Planning Survey from Mercer HR Consulting, "Despite the strengthening economy and growing job market, salary increases will remain steady in 2007 and into 2008." We will discfuss some of those rate increases later in this article. The survey included responses from more than 1,000 employers across the United States with pay practices for more than 12 million workers.
The survey showed that employers in the U.S. will award, on average, a pay increase of about 3.8 percent. According to previous data this is just a little more than the 3.7 percent awarded in 2006. According to Stephen Miller of HR Magazine, "Mercer is projecting that pay increases will remain flat at 3.8 percent in 2008." A finding, Miller claims, "is in line with the World at Work Salary Budget Survey, which found U.S. companies planning an overall salary budget increase of 3.9 percent in 2008."
Employers across the U.S. are still a little leary on increasing payroll, which will increase their budget, shrinking their bottom line. In return, employers have shown to place a greater emphasis on company top performers by offering performance incentives, which will be discussed in a little bit.
According to Mercer`s survey, employees who are considered high performers will receive an average increase of about 5.7 percent, those that are considered average will receive about 3.5 percent and below average performers will receive a mere 1.7 percent. All of these figures of course are for 2007.
Incentives are a great way to motivate and keep your top performers as well as get the average and below average employees to perform even better. The Mercer survey revealed a variety of difference incentives. For example, higher performing managers are expected to receive payouts in bonuses of around 27 percent while below average performers will only receive 10 percent. A huge differential, and definitely a motivator.
Steven E. Gross, global leader of Mercer`s performance and rewards consulting said recently in HR Magazine that, "Incentives are a useful tool for supporting high levels of performance with out increasing the fixed cost of base pay."
The survey also showed that 86 percent of companies did offer short term incentives and since 2004, 22 percent have increased employees eligible for these incentives, and that payouts, on average are higher then in previous years when the survey was conducted.
The Mercer HR Consulting Survey revealed the following statistics for budgeted pay increases for 2007 and 2008.
In 2007 All Employees will receive an average of 3.8 percent, executives 4.1 percent, management, 3.8 percent, professional (sales and non-sales) 3.8 percent, clerical/office, 3.7 percent and trades/production/service receiving 3.6 percent. In 2008, some budgets will increase while a couple stay the same, with only executives showing a decrease. For example, all employees, office/clerical and trade/production/service will remain steady in 2008 with their same increase in 2007, executives and professionals will drop from 4.1 to 3.9.
One thing is for sure, the job market is on the rise, but with a slumping economical market in some areas, it looks like employers are still a little leary about that bottom line until they know their respective industries are booming again.
By: Bruce A. Tucker
Job cuts on the country's high tech sector IT job market declined 40 percent in the first quarter of 2006. It was the fourth consecutive quarter with year-to-year declines, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In fact, John Challenger says that some business may regret some of the job cuts they made in recent years. IT job market workers themselves are optimistic about their employment prospects.
The computer jobs with the hottest prospects include network systems analysts, data base administrators and computer software engineers, according to a labor market analyst with the News York State Labor Department.
Information technology gives companies the ability to expand into new markets, identify new customers and cut costs. It's taken a while but businesses are finally realizing how important IT is to their growth. This has led to a sellers market in the IT job market.
So, if it's your turn to benefit from this up-tick in the IT job market, then you want to prepare yourself for some changes in the hiring expectations of decision-makers you'll be dealing with. You see, a lot has happened since 2000 including 9/11 and Katrina.
Back then it was enough to have a list of your IT credentials and a solid work history to back them up. Today, employers want you to come forward showing that you've taken the time to learn something about them and their organization.
That means that you should be spending much more time researching specific companies where there is a match between your interests and their goals . . . much more time than you spend on your resume which has only very limited value in this post-2000 marketplace.
An employer is going to be looking at you, not your resume, to determine if you make a productive addition to his/her team. You need to be prepared to demonstrate that you can address specific problems an employer or the organization is confronted with.
Fortunately there's an exciting alternative job search system that can put you at the front of the pack. When you follow this remarkable plan, you can be meeting face-to-face with a qualified decision-maker in matter of days. And you can be entertaining a job offer in as little as two weeks!
Both Michael Podlesny & Paul Megan are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Michael Podlesny has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sim Cards, Advertising Guide and Photography. About the Author:Bruce A. Tucker is the Associate Director of .. Michael Podlesny's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.
Paul Megan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Employment, Careers and Job Hunting and Employment. Paul Megan writes for EEI, the world-class pioneer in alternative job search techniques and non-traditional career advancement strategies . . . since 1985. Grab our stunning FREE REPORT: ?How To Find A Job In As Little As 14 Days!? Click on RSS for insta. Paul Megan's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.