After the first two months of 2010, worldwide salary budgets for the year had declined slightly from projections reported in September 2009, according to results from the 2010 Culpepper Salary Increase Budget Update Survey. While many companies remained conservative with salary increases, an increasing number reported improved confidence about unfreezing salaries and rolling back salary cuts.
This survey drew on salary increase data collected in January and February 2010 from 765 participating organizations across 86 countries and 17 international geographic regions.
The survey findings reveal that:
- Projected salary increases for 2010 decline slightly. Since September 2009, projected base salary increases for 2010 across all jobs and locations decreased from 2.88 percent to 2.77 percent. Excluding salary freezes, projected base salary increases declined from 3.25 percent to 3.21 percent.
- Fewer companies freeze salaries. The number of companies planning to freeze salaries in 2010 increased slightly from 12 percent to 14 percent. However, this is a marked improvement from 2009, when 37 percent of companies froze salaries.
