While the economy has bounced back from the Great Recession, wage growth has continued to remain stagnant. Yet, CareerBuilder’s latest hiring forecast shows that paychecks may soon get a much-needed boost.
According to the survey, 68 percent of employers plan to increase salaries for full-time, permanent workers in Q4, with 28 percent anticipating an average pay increase of 5 percent or more.
Employers also plan to offer bigger paychecks to seasonal workers. Forty-seven percent expect to increase pay for seasonal workers during the fourth quarter. Of those hiring seasonal employees, 75 percent will pay $10 or more per hour, up from 72 percent last year, and nearly 3 in 10 (28 percent) expect to pay $16 or more per hour, up from 19 percent last year.
What Does This Mean for You?
Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder and co-author of “The Talent Equation,” says that various factors are influencing rising wages. “… campaigns for a higher minimum wage, paired with a tighter labor market for lower-skill and semi-skill jobs, is giving job seekers more of an edge when it comes to compensation. Wage growth, while still a serious concern, will likely see a lift in the coming months.”
As the competition for candidates intensifies, especially for hard-to-fill jobs, you may need to re-evaluate your compensation strategy if you want to entice new hires to join your company and keep employees from leaving for a higher-paying job. Using analytics to compare your compensation rates with your competitors’ salaries can help you make the case for raising wages.
