Planned Merit and General Increases by Size and Industry: Survey Results

BLR’s 2012 Pay Budget Survey was conducted in June 2011. A total of 1637 organizations participated. Here are the rest of the results:

Planned Increases by Company Size

Small employers (those with fewer than 100 employees) and medium (between 100–500 employees) are planning the same average merit increase of 2.1% for their exempt employees, while large employers (over 500 employees) are jumping from 2.2% reported for 2011 to 2.4% for 2012 (see Tables 3 and 4). Noteworthy is the medium-size employer, which consistently shows a small decrease across the board in the average of merit and general planned increases for 2012.

Table 3: Actual and Planned Merit Increases by Company Size

	2011 Actual			2012 Planned
Fewerthan100Employees	Total	Avg.Inc.	Total		Avg.Inc.
Exempt	532	1.8%	359		2.1%
NonexemptOffice	455	1.6%	307		1.8%
UnionPlant	17	0.6%	15		1.1%
NonunionPlant	141	1.3%	92		1.5%
100–500Employees	Total	Avg.Inc.	Total		Avg.Inc.
Exempt	415	2.0%	294		2.1%
NonexemptOffice	378	2.0%	267		2.0%
UnionPlant	46	1.3%	38		1.3%
NonunionPlant	180	1.9%	121		1.9%
Morethan500Employees	Total	Avg.Inc.	Total		Avg.Inc.
Exempt	428	2.1%	321		2.4%
NonexemptOffice	409	2.1%	307		2.3%
UnionPlant	83	1.5%	61		1.6%
NonunionPlant	207	2.0%	153		2.3%

Table 4: Actual and Planned General Increases by Company Size

	2011 Actual			2012 Planned
Fewerthan100Employees		Total	Avg.Inc.		Total	Avg.Inc.
Exempt		473	1.3%		325	1.4%
NonexemptOffice		407	1.4%		278	1.4%
UnionPlant		19	1.5%		15	1.2%
NonunionPlant		136	1.3%		89	1.6%
100–500Employees		Total	Avg.Inc.		Total	Avg.Inc.
Exempt		337	1.2%		246	1.2%
NonexemptOffice		302	1.2%		217	1.1%
UnionPlant		45	2.0%		35	2.1%
NonunionPlant		146	1.4%		97	1.4%
Morethan500Employees		Total	Avg.Inc.		Total	Avg.Inc.
Exempt		311	1.2%		240	1.3%
NonexemptOffice		299	1.2%		226	1.2%
UnionPlant		75	1.6%		54	1.6%
NonunionPlant		152	1.4%		116	1.6%

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Comparisons by Industry

Survey participants reported an average planned merit increase for exempt employees of 2.2%; it was 2.1% for 2011. Comparisons by industry have some surprising planned pay increases.

The Real Estate industry has planned a general increase from 0.9% in 2011 to 2.8% in 2012 for exempt employees. Likewise, there is a general increase from 0.7% in 2011 to 2.4% in 2012 for the nonexempt employees. Another eye catcher for Real Estate are the merit increases planned for the exempt employees; they jump from 1.6% to 2.6% while nonexempt went from 1.7% to 3.1%, meaning an overall significant increase for this industry.

Another surprise is the Recreation industry. Planned general increases went from 0.3% in 2011 to 1.6% in 2012 for both exempt and nonexempt. Subsequently, the merit increases for exempt employees reflect an increase as well for the Recreation industry, with exempt planned merit increases going from 1.4% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012 and nonexempt planned merit increases going from 1.1% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012 (see Tables 5 and 6).

Table 5: Merit and General Increases Planned for 2012 Exempt (by industry)

	#Emp.	Merit	#Emp.	General
Accommodation	9	2.7%	8	1.4%
Agriculture	3	2.5%	3	1.8%
Construction	31	2.1%	28	1.8%
Education	56	1.1%	52	1.0%
Finance/Insurance	97	3.0%	67	1.5%
Government	64	0.6%	65	0.7%
Health	144	2.1%	135	1.5%
Management	15	3.4%	13	1.8%
Manufacturing	161	2.4%	136	1.4%
OtherServices	269	2.2%	221	1.3%
RealEstate	11	2.6%	8	2.8%
Recreation	6	2.3%	5	1.6%
Retail/Wholesale	47	2.2%	32	0.8%
Transportation	28	2.2%	21	1.0%
Utilities	33	2.6%	17	1.0%

Table 6: Merit and General Increases Planned for 2012Nonexempt Office (by Industry)

	#Emp.	Merit	#Emp.	General
Accommodation	8	1.6%	7	0.9%
Agriculture	2	4.0%	2	3.0%
Construction	24	1.5%	21	1.5%
Education	54	1.1%	49	1.1%
Finance/Insurance	89	2.9%	59	1.4%
Government	61	0.6%	64	0.6%
Health	137	2.1%	126	1.5%
Management	8	3.4%	7	1.6%
Manufacturing	153	2.4%	128	1.4%
OtherServices	233	1.9%	185	1.3%
RealEstate	8	3.1%	5	2.4%
Recreation	6	2.3%	5	1.6%
Retail/Wholesale	44	2.2%	30	0.9%
Transportation	24	1.9%	17	1.3%
Utilities	30	2.6%	16	0.9%

For a complete copy of the report, go here.

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