Employers Plan for Lean 2012 Pay Increases, According to Buck Consultants
NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2011 — Workers can expect modest pay raises averaging 2.8 percent next year, compared to 2.7 percent in 2011 and 2.9 percent in 2010, according to a survey released today by Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company (NYSE: XRX).
Buck’s survey, “Compensation Planning for 2012,” also found that pay-for-performance remains as crucial as ever, given the importance of effectively allocating budgets to retain top performers. Eighty percent of respondents have a pay-for-performance philosophy, although this is down from 87 percent last year.
“Our research into pay practices reveals that most employers plan to hold the line similar to 2011,” said Stephen Mork, principal at Buck Consultants. “Given the slow economic recovery and stubborn unemployment rate, organizations are taking a cautious and conservative approach to compensation planning to stay within their payroll budgets.”
Average promotion increases range from 5.7 percent (for C-suite employees) to 7.3 percent (for the vice-president level).
The most prevalent type of short-term incentive pay is a company-wide plan with an individual performance component. These bonuses are relatively unchanged from last year.
A blend of stock options and full value awards (time- and performance-based restricted stocks) remain the most prevalent long-term incentive awards for C-suite employees. Broad-based employee groups are most likely to participate in time-based restricted stock plans.
Buck’s survey found that organizations’ top talent-related priorities for 2012 are retention of talent (62%) and employee engagement (56%).
Actions for retaining top performers include: new career development opportunities (64%), market pay adjustments (43%), larger base pay increases (30%), increased non-cash recognition (28%), and larger bonus opportunities (21%).
Other Key Findings
• Fifty-two percent of organizations offer a hiring or retention bonus to employees with specialized industry or product knowledge.
• Referral bonuses are offered by 56 percent of employers. More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents who provide these bonuses cite a better chance of getting a strong performer.
• Seventy-three percent of respondents communicate their pay increase budgets with managers and employees.
Buck Consultants completed its survey in August. The survey includes responses from more than 280 employers, representing virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. It examines competitive compensation strategies, metrics for monitoring labor costs, and the use of technology to support compensation program administration.
About Buck Consultants
Buck Consultants is a leader in human resource and benefits consulting with more than 1,500 professionals worldwide. Founded in 1916 to advise clients in establishing and funding some of the nation’s first public and private retirement programs, Buck is an innovator in the areas of retirement benefits, health and welfare programs, human capital management, compensation, and employee communication. News and other information about Buck Consultants are available at http://www.buckconsultants.com. Buck is a wholly owned subsidiary of ACS, A Xerox Company.
About Xerox
Xerox Corporation is a $22 billion leading global enterprise for business process and document management. Through its broad portfolio of technology and services, Xerox provides the essential back-office support that clears the way for clients to focus on what they do best: their real business. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., Xerox provides leading-edge document technology, services, software and genuine Xerox supplies for graphic communication and office printing environments of any size. Through ACS, A Xerox Company, which Xerox acquired in February 2010, Xerox also offers extensive business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services, including data processing, HR benefits management, finance support, and customer relationship management services for commercial and government organizations worldwide. The 134,000 people of Xerox serve clients in more than 160 countries. For more information, visit
http://www.xerox.com, http://news.xerox.com, http://www.realbusiness.com or http://www.acs-inc.com. For investor information, visit http://www.xerox.com/investor.
Media Contact:
Ed Gadowski, Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company, +1-201-902-2825, e-mail protected from spam bots
Note: Buck’s survey report, “Compensation Planning for 2011,” is available at no cost to the media by contacting Ed Gadowski at +1-201-902-2825. It is available to other interested parties for $300 from Buck’s Global Survey Resources, 50 Fremont Street, 12th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105. Telephone 1-800-887-0509. It can also be ordered online at http://www.bucksurveys.com.
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