Average Pay Projected to Increase 2.8% in 2013

Amy Kaminski of Compdata Surveys

The average pay increase budget projected for organizations in 2013 is 2.8 percent, up slightly from 2.7 percent reported in 2012 according Compdata Surveys 2012 BenchmarkPro survey results. Pay range adjustments aren’t expected to show much improvement either as more than three-quarters of organizations have a formal pay structure with pay ranges in place that have or will be adjusted in 2012. The average pay range adjustment reported in 2012 was 1.9 percent, up from 1.7 percent reported in 2011 and 1.6 percent reported in 2010. Pay range adjustments are projected to remain stable in 2013 at 1.9 percent.

Pay range adjustments vary by industry as employers in utilities reported adjustments of 1.9 percent. Banking and finance and hospitality organizations reported pay range adjustments of 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Manufacturing and distribution organizations are projecting the highest adjustment amount for 2013 at 2.2 percent, while not-for-profit is projecting the lowest, 1.4 percent.

“The length of time between pay range adjustments has remained the same over the last year at an average of 15.4 months, but that is still much longer than the average 11.4 months reported in 2009,” said Amy Kaminski, vice president for Compdata Surveys. “Combine this with pay range adjustments’ anemic rate of growth over the past couple of years and it reflects a very guarded outlook by employers.”

If an employee is over their established pay range maximum, 73.3 percent of organizations withhold increases, up from 70 percent reported in 2009. Industries widely differ in their rate of use of this technique, as healthcare employers withhold increases at a rate of 87.8 percent, compared to services at 64.8 percent. Comparatively, 64.5 percent of employers grant lump sum increases to employees who have exceeded their established pay range.