ResumeTemplates.com, a leading platform for free professional resume templates and examples, has published a survey report examining changes in salary offerings. In August, ResumeTemplates.com surveyed 1,000 business leaders in the United States across industries.
According to the survey, 22% of companies are offering lower salaries than they did last year for some positions at their company. The positions most commonly affected include administrative (47%), customer service (44%), IT/technology (31%), sales (34%), and finance (27%). Nearly one in 10 companies reported salary reductions of greater than 10% for some positions.
The primary reasons driving lower salary offerings include an expectation of an economic downturn or market uncertainty (62%) and an inability to afford higher salaries (53%). Other factors include perceptions that previous salaries were too high (48%) and reduced marketplace competition (45%).
“Organizations with experienced human resources teams will be familiar with the benchmarking tools available to ensure their organizations are offering appropriate salaries for available positions” says Julia Toothacre, chief career strategist at ResumeTemplates. “While every organization can set whatever salary bands they want, it’s important to remember that inflation is high, and offering salaries that were competitive 20 years ago isn’t going to work today.”
For next year, more than one-third of companies indicate there may be hiring freezes and layoffs. Survey findings also suggest companies are actively engaging in the practice of replacing laid-off workers with lower-cost hires.
