Kansas City, Kan.— Although the economy is still struggling to make significant strides towards recovery, small improvements are starting to become more evident. The 2011 Compensation Data Services survey results found pay increase budgets remained relatively stable at 2.4 percent, reflecting a slight increase from 2.2 percent in 2010. Pay increase budgets are projected to continue slowly increasing in 2012 to 2.5 percent.

"There appears to be a level of cautious optimism within the industry in regard to the economy," said Amy Kaminski, director of marketing for Compdata Surveys, the nation's leading pay and benefit survey data provider. "Employers are taking a conservative approach, and we expect only a gradual increase over the next few years."

Companies use pay increase budgets to make a number of different increases to their employees' salaries. More than 70 percent of service organizations are allocating a portion of their budget to make market adjustments. Just over half are offering merit increases, while 29 percent are making cost of living increases. Only 11.3 percent of survey respondents are utilizing their pay increase budget for promotional increases.

The rate at which these increases are used varies by industry. Merit increases, for example, are being offered by engineering firms at a rate of 71.9 percent, while 57.4 percent of business services are using them. Merit increases are being offered in retail at a rate of 45.5 percent. The average merit increase budget reported in 2011 was 2.6 percent, with service employers projecting the same for 2012.

About the Survey
Compensation Data 2011 Services surveyed nearly 100 industry-specific job titles and 350 benchmark titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Data was collected from 414 service employers reporting on nearly 2,900 locations across the country. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefit information and pay practices with an effective date of January 1, 2011.

Compdata Surveys is the nation's leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Thousands of U.S. organizations provide data each year ensuring the reliability of our results. Compdata Surveys has been providing comprehensive data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about their compensation and benefit surveys, contact Michelle Willis at (800) 300-9570.

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