7 Projections Affecting Salary Levels

According to the 7th annual Compensation Planning Survey by Buck Consultants, more employees are likely to receive less than 3 percent pay increases in 2014 due to pay differentiations based on performance. Lower overall salary budgets mirror the slow market recovery. The survey projects the economy and the labor market could affect 2014 salary negotiations in these 7 ways:

1. Workers will begin to feel empowered as job-loss fears decrease.
2. Market forces will temper merit increases.
3. IT, healthcare, energy will earn significantly more.
4. Accounting/Finance compensation will trend a bit higher than average.
5. Performance pay will rise with business success.
6. Big salary increases will be for new hires only.
7. Specialists can earn outsized pay hikes.