Historically high overall increases
Increase record beaten! Whether these are the figures published by LHH* Or Mercer**this year, the increases flirt with the highest ever recorded (median figures):
- +4.7% according to LHH
- + 4.95% according to Mercer
That is nearly 2% more than in 2022. After tough negotiations with the social partners, employers had no choice but to really put their hands in their wallets. In particular to try to fight against galloping inflation and preserve as much as possible the purchasing power of their employees. However, the efforts made by the boxes have not always made it possible to absorb inflation (estimated at around 5% in 2023) for everyone. Mercer points out that augmentation budgets “vary greatly from company to company, ranging from 2.8% minimum to 8% maximum “. Winners and losers then!
No more general raises for everyone
As always, these increase numbers are broken down into two parts: General Increases (AG) and Individual Increases (AI). According to the firm Mercer, AGs amount to 3% this year against 1.1% in 2022. And, new fact, general increases concern more employees. Long earmarked in the direction of the lowest salaries, these sums also concern executives (but excluding senior executives and managers). According to the LHH study, 2 out of 3 companies would have granted AGs to their executives.
According to data from the Mercer report, management and sales and non-sales executives benefited from 1% to 1.25% AG. It has often been said (and written) and repeated on Cadremploi, despite more comfortable incomes than other CSPs, executives have not been spared by the fall in purchasing power. This year, the employers have therefore decided to include them in the GA plans. Big deal ? Not so sure. Because those who have benefited from GA are probably not eligible for individual increases.
Individual increases more than ever granted on merit
To boost the salaries of their executives, employers rely again and again on individual increases (AI). For management and executives (sales and non-sales), they are around 3% according to Mercer. And 3.5% for senior executives and managers.
Without quantifying them, LHH stresses for its part that 9 out of 10 companies granted AI to their executives. The big winners of this allocation of individual increases? The most deserving executives. In other words, the most successful and especially those with key positions for companies. The talents that employers want to retain at all costs to avoid seeing them leave to competition. The retention war rages on.
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The value-sharing bonus favored by employers
Apart from a few points, LHH and Mercer agree that almost half (between 45 and 49%) of companies want to pay a value sharing bonus (VSP) in 2023 and that the median amount should reach 800 euros.
The most frequent eligibility criteria are time spent, then level of remuneration, then seniority, then classification. “As a reminder, exceptional purchasing power bonuses were paid in 2022 to the tune of 675 euros in 53% of companies”, underline the authors of the LHH study.
Remuneration boosted by salary peripherals
For the sake of optimizing their payroll, companies have more than ever drawn benefits other than salary. According to Mercer, two-thirds of employers would have incorporated additional elements. For example, a increase in the coverage of transport costs, fuel allowances, the budget of the Social and Economic Committee, remoteness allowances, contribution to restaurant tickets, support for social programswithout forgetting the payment by the employer of part of the health care costs.
2024 increases: mixed forecasts
Waiting for the review clauses potential between management and social partners for the 2023 increases, the firms are already making their projections for 2024. And there, their visions diverge.
- According to Mercer, ” the budgets for 2024 should a priori remain unchanged compared to those of 2023, i.e. 4.95%. But the evolution of the economic situation and inflation in the second half will perhaps force companies to come and adjust this figure”.
- LHH is for its part more cautious from the outset: “the downward inflation forecasts suggest a return to lower practices with budget increases, below 4%, for a median rate of 3.5% which nevertheless still remains significant”. That is 1.2% less than in 2023.
We bet that individual increases would not fail to take even more precedence over general increases. And that executives will have to show their credentials even more to be among the lucky ones.
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Negotiating your salary well: source of anxiety, especially for women and seniors
According to the latest Robert Half “What Candidates Want” survey (April 2023):
- While 56% of men feel comfortable negotiating their salary, this is only the case for 36% of women
- 53% of 18-34 year olds say they are comfortable negotiating their salary, compared to only 40% of 45-65 year olds
- While 45% of women and 48% of 45-65 year olds say they have not seen any increase in the past twelve months, only 35% of men and 30% of 18-34 year olds.
The two studies:
* Annual survey Mercer dedicated to Mandatory Annual Negotiations and the 2023 Value Sharing Premium: for this 11th edition, the firm interviewed a panel of 142 companies established in France (HRD and Compensation & Benefits Managers) over a period from November 2022 to March 2023, through an online questionnaire and individual interviews.
** Annual Observatory of Social Performance and Remuneration 2023 LHH : the survey carried out made it possible to collect the practices of 130 companiesre nearly 1 million employees of all sectors, sizes and turnovers. This survey includes 41% of companies from the industrial sector (Agro-food, Services and capital goods), 21% from the financial tertiary sector (Insurance, Mutuals, Bank, Credit), 10% of companies from IT and new technologies (Manufacturer, publisher, ESN) and 28% from other sectors.