Salary increases are SLOWING

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Good Afternoon Party People! 🎉

PARTY PLAN đźŽ‰

đź’¸ Salary increases are slowing

🤨 Labor report

🌴 Free day of remote work?!

And, of course, MEMES!

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PAY DATA

Salary Increases are Slowing

Inflation up, salary increases down… Makes perfect sense! According to survey results collected by Salary.com from more than 1,000 HR professionals in the U.S. and Canada, average YoY salary increased dropped from 4.3 to 3.9%.

Fewer companies are doling out higher raises; only 14% of companies gave out raises between 5% and 6.9%, compared to 25% of companies in last year’s survey. Additionally, more companies — 38% in 2024, compared to 25% in 2023 — returned to “typical” salary increases in the 3% to 3.9% range.

“Last year, we noted that salary increases might be at a peak, even with 4 percent becoming the norm. While 4 percent remained the median in 2024, further analysis suggests a shift is happening.”

-Andy Miller, vice president of compensation consulting at Salary.com

Payscale analysis from March found that despite shifts in the economy, employees still expected competitive pay, and HR ranked compensation as their greatest challenge.

Despite the average and median pay increases on the decline, some industries saw bigger median increases.

Construction, education, nonprofit, and government (of course) led the way with leaders in the industry expecting salary increases to outpace the rest of the workforce.

Hint to job seekers: follow the industries with money!

LABOR DATA

Optimism Around The BLS Report

Total nonfarm payroll rose in October by only 12,000 jobs.

But economists are saying not to panic! In fact, most of them were optimistic about the number.

Here are some key points and takeaways from this last month’s BLS report:

  • Nonfarm payrolls were up 12,000.

  • Hurricanes Helene and Milton impacted “tens of thousands of jobs.”

  • 44,000 workers were on strike during the month.

  • The two previous months were revised down by a total of 112,000 jobs, speaking to an ongoing slowdown in the general market.

  • There was a large decline in “temp hiring.” Seasonal jobs aren’t as in-demand as expected.

  • The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.

“Generally, the market is still angled for a soft landing. Businesses continue to be cautious about expanding their workforce, likely due to economic uncertainties or cost-control measures. However, we’re still seeing growth above 2023 levels which provides moderate optimism for the market as economic conditions stabilize.”

-Ger Doyle, head of Experis North America

WORKPLACE

Free Day of Remote Work?!

We almost made it through the entire newsletter without mentioning the election.

Whoops.

Presidential election day gets us remote work?! We should have one of these every year!

Turns out the reasoning behind it isn’t so great…

Last week, we covered the rise in workplace incivility. This week, HR teams are doing something about it. According to a survey of 1,000+ U.S.-based managers, 4 in 10 will have staff work remotely during election week.

About 30% say the election has caused conflicts among employees, and 70% fear tensions will escalate post-election, that survey found.

“Managers are dealing with strained relationships, verbal altercations, and ultimately, a decrease in team cohesion. They say disagreements over politics are distracting employees and reducing overall output. About a fourth of staff have refused to collaborate with coworkers holding different views, and have asked to work remotely as a way to avoid potential conflict.”

Some managers are expecting tensions to remain high for months following the election, and are playing it by ear whether employees will come back into the office during that time.

The report also highlighted companies with hybrid work schedules that have left it up to employees whether they want to come into the office or not for the foreseeable future.

If given the option, would you work from home during election week?

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