2009 Salary Planning Rundown

It's that salary budgeting time of the year!

As a service to readers, I thought I'd share a high level rundown of a few of the biggest U.S. salary budgeting/planning surveys out there, and what they are telling us about 2008 actual and 2009 projected salary increases.

Drumroll, please ...

• WorldatWork 2008/09 Salary Budget Survey
  • Over 2,700 participating employers, covering over 13.6 million employees
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 3.9%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 3.9%
• Mercer 2008/09 U.S. Compensation Planning Survey
  • Over 1,000 participating employers, covering over 12 million employees
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 3.8%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 3.7%
• Business & Legal Reports (BLR) 2009 Pay Budget Survey
  • Over 1,100 participating employers
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 3.67%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 3.71%
• Watson Wyatt Global Strategic Rewards Survey (yet to be released)
  • 276 participating U.S. employers
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 3.5%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 3.5%
• 2009 Economic Research Institute (ERI) Salary Increase Survey
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 4.1%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 4.0%
• CompData Surveys 2008 Compensation Survey
  • Actual average 2008 salary increase: 3.60%
  • Projected average 2009 salary increase: 3.62%

As you can see, the detailed numbers vary a bit (from 3.5% to 4%, with the largest surveys in the 3.7% to 3.9% territory), but the message seems to be consistent, that salary increase levels are expected to stay relatively flat from 2008 through 2009.

Postscript: For a later fall update on salary planning research in light of the continuing economic crisis, please go to my October 24 post A Look at Salary Increase Budgets in the Wake of the Economic Crisis.

Comments

[Alan Levinson]

Very interesting numbers! In researching the the Annual Inflation rate, (one resource: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/CurrentInflation.asp) I see that annual inflation is outpacing what employers are projecting for annual increases listed in your post.

Obviously employers are not watching this factor too closely, but I wonder if you have any insight or comments on this.

Thanks!

[Ann Bares]

Alan:

If you read this blog long enough, you'll find that I have a strong opinion on this topic. Accordingly, I advise my clients - and my readers - to use "cost of labor" (what the market is delivering in terms of an average salary increase), not "cost of living" (inflation) as the metric against which to set and adjust their own pay structures. See more at the posts below:

http://compforce.typepad.com/compensation_force/2006/09/cost_of_labor_v.html

http://compforce.typepad.com/compensation_force/2008/06/just-dont-call.html

Those are my thoughts! Thanks for the observation and comment!