Will Raises Make a Comeback in 2010?
November 28, 2009 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Business, Jobs, Work
The end of 2008 saw a serious dent to bonuses, due to the financial crisis. And this year saw salary freezes at a number of companies. As a result, raises have been few and far between. But things might change in 2010. Hewitt Associates points out that only 13% of companies plan to freeze salaries next year. You might not get a huge raise, but you might 
get something more than you got this year. And that could be helpful to many who are struggling right now. It will be especially helpful if economic recovery results in inflation next year. So far, inflation has been relatively modest, but if prices rise and salaries don’t, many people will find it difficult to keep up with their obligations.
The job market itself is likely to take longer to recover. Even though there are signs of stability, the fact of the matter is that it took three years after the last two recessions for unemployment to return to pre-recession levels. And there are some economists who believe that we may not see a return to pre-recession levels of employment for even longer this time. One of the biggest reasons is to do with the fact that many industries and companies have been making substantial changes to the way the do things. There may be no need for a great deal of hiring.
Image source: sxc.hu
I sure hope so, my firm was bought by a VC before the bubble burst last year and we have been asked to take “voluntary UTO” every quarter this year to keep the hungry shareholders happy (which I understand but where is the business development funding?)
We were asked to take all “floating Holidays” as UTO days this fall so far and recently they asked us to defer our final pay check for 2009 to 2010. Overall, they have “saved” a little over 6% and finally let go of some head count last Quarter to keep us having to take the entire Q4 as UTO. We are in the Tech sector and are services based. No one is spending, so it is tough to go from a 169m year to a 49m year.