Summary
Base pay increases in 2023 averaged 4.8%, the highest level in two decades. Next year, employers expect to hand out raises of 3.5%, down from 3.6% in 2024.
Companies plan to dole out even less next year, projecting a median raise of 3.9% in 2025. More workers are already unhappy with their salaries.
In the second quarter, fewer than 6 in 10 job switchers landed a bigger paycheck than they had at their former employer. Only 14% of new hires said they received a signing bonus upon hire, down from 23% in the first quarter.
Mentions in job postings of remote work have declined since peaking in 2022, Pollak said, but they're still much higher than before. “If you mention that the job is remote in the job title, you get about five times as many applications per posting,” she said.
Individual employees can be entitled to higher pay increases if they are budgeted for outside of the company average. The pay increases can be paid for by the company, not the employee.
