U.S. Employers Handing Out Smallest Pay Raises Since at Least Mid-1970s, S

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. Employers Handing Out Smallest Pay Raises Since at Least Mid-1970s, Surveys Find
By Adam Geller The Associated Press
Published: Jul 30, 2003


NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. employers this year and next are handing out the smallest pay raises since at least the mid-1970s - well below the 4 percent-plus increases routine before the economy lost its footing.
Companies surveyed in two studies said they have budgeted raises averaging 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent this year and plan about the same next year.

The belt-tightening reflects rising worker health care bills and pension costs and a weak economy that has made it difficult for companies to raise prices for their products, according to a survey to be released Wednesday by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

Also, the small raises reflect the anemic job market, with its oversupply of workers, according to the Mercer survey and another put out last month by the Conference Board, an industry research group.

"People are flogging their workers to get more out of them as a means to increase profits, coupled with the fact that there's more supply than demand for labor today," said Steven Gross, a compensation consultant for Mercer. (snip/...)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAXESLWQID.html

[DemBones DemBones]

1. Remember Cheney and Bush talking down the economy even

before the 2000 election? Not a good thing for candidates to do and even worse for two guys placed in office by SCOTUS to do. Very bad psychology. They've gotten what they wanted, yet Congress has gone along with their insane tax cut plans.

:grr:

[cthrumatrix]

2. not to CEO's

.

[Tom Kitten]

3. Tell me about it!

Hired in March 2001 at current company....here it is July 2003 and still make same wage...Asked for raise three times and have been ignored...Finally was offered salary position making lesss than I've made with OT each year! I am very important to my company regarding sales (basically I'm the art department here) and I get no bonus or recognition for my work and when it gets really busy they hire outside help and pay them what they ask for, which is usually double what I make, and let me add their work is inferior (I'm always correcting their mistakes!)

I'd start my own business but I'm afraid with this economy ...At least I have security with this job...(incidentallly profits are up with this company the last few years...

[deutsey]

5. Same here

I received a less than spectacular increase this year too. I only have three children and a new mortgage, so I don't really need the money. :puke:

[jamesinca]

4. Yet the cost of living keeps increasing.

If the checks are getting smaller then how can insurance companies say that they have to cover the cost of healthcare worker paychecks? My answer is because the insurance companies are lying and just running up the price for their own profit.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. As an employer

I can confirm that at least for my own company, this is true. This is the first year, since my husband and I have been in business, that we could not afford to give our employees decent raises.

The biggest problem for us was because of W's all war, all the time talk leading up to the invasion of Iraq, our sales were down substantially.

The second biggest problem is continued increases in health care insurance. Three years ago we decided to pay 100% of our employees health insurance coverage. In just three years, our premiums have doubled. This is a huge cost for a small business and we have no choice but to cut back on raises in order to make up the difference.

BTW: If anyone sees Harry and Louise, I'd like to beat them up.

[Mel]

11. I got your back

on kicking Harry and Louise's bums. :evilgrin:

I agree, insurance and drug companies are gouging the people! The Insurance companies lost it in the stock market 'their own bad investments' now they are blaming everyone else, instead of taking responsibilty!

Funny the pukes Never, Ever point that out to these insurance companies.
'Responsibilty is for the little people' don't cha' know?

[ClintonTyree]

7. Cheap labor Conservatism..................

at it's finest. I can hear Monty Burns in the distance, "excellent".

[BiggJawn]

8. 3.5%? WOW!!! Lucky dogs!

Average around here was 2.4%
I got my tit in the ringer with the higher-ups this past year, so I got ZERO.
Yeah, zip, nil, nada.
So far this year, I've re-invented the wheel and brought Fire to the tribe.
I'll probably get 2% next year

[JackDragna]

9. Welcome to the world of U.S. robber-baron capitalism!

Where skilled workers are fired so that their jobs can be filled by temps that make half their salary and have none of their benefits...where jobs get shipped overseas so companies can avoid having to give the workers a safe environment or any kind of collective bargaining rights...where people work longer than in most any other westernized nation but get very little back comparitively in terms of wages and social services..

[ze_dscherman]

10. It's not different in Germany

People are made to work harder and longer, and wages rise only very moderately (if at all). New work contracts usually given out on much worse terms.

After my last employer bancrupted, and I was unemployed/freelancing for some time. I was considering myself lucky to get a job that payed significantly less (although it was even more work and responsibility). I had been freelancing for that same company, so I knew how many others were queing to take the place I was looking for. And of course, my employer knew this as well.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. If you make more than a Chinese sweatshop laborer, you can't complain

Don't worry, in the glorious future, any day now, the neo-con/neo-lib new global economy will make us all independent entreprenurial millionaires!

Don't you remember Newt Gingrich's promises about free global trade? And Clinton's too.

[SharonAnn]

15. It's the plan of the "Cheap Labor Conservatives"

to drive wages down as much as possible to increase their executive compensation and profits for stakeholders.

[Yavin4]

13. Don't Forget About Health Insurance

When you throw in that more and more companies will require their employees to pay more for their own health insurance, then that will almost wipe out all raises.

[northernsoul]

14. someone's getting a raise

I've been working my tail off for a fortune 500 corporation for years now, with consistently high marks on all my reviews and one promotion, but I have not a received a raise and my health insurance premiums keep going up and up, so I'm actually making takehome pay than when I started. Where are these lucky SOBs who are getting any kind of pay increase at all?