Photo Credit: Eckler Ltd.

💵 Eckler Survey Reveals that Salary Increases Will Continue to Surpass Inflation

Tuesday, 17 September 2024 08:12.AM

- The national average base salary increase for 2025 is projected at 3.6%; with BC leading all provinces at 3.9%. -

According to Eckler's third annual compensation planning survey, the national average base salary increase for 2025 is projected at 3.6% (excluding planned salary freezes). This is below 2024's actual increases of 3.8%.

"As inflationary pressures dissipate, planned salary increases are moderating more slowly; resulting in larger real compensation increases for employees," said Anand Parsan, National Compensation Practice leader at Eckler. "We are beginning to see a reversion to pre-pandemic norms."

There is more certainty in 2025 salary budget planning

The survey revealed that only 18% of organizations remain undecided about 2025 salary budgets, versus 58% in 2024.

"As the labour market continues to rebalance, organizations are shifting their attention towards effectively managing their compensation programs. How they communicate their total rewards package to employees, how transparent they are with compensation, how effective and equitable are their pay programs," said Parsan.

The results indicate that some sectors continue to have limited budgets and are projecting compensation freezes. Participating healthcare organizations (44%) and education organizations (21%) expect to freeze compensation in 2025.

Key results by province, territory, and industry:

• Western provinces, Alberta and British Columbia, are projecting the highest average salary increases with a range of 3.6% to 3.9%, with British Columbia being the highest projection.
• The lowest anticipated salary increases range from 3.1% to 3.2% for Yukon and Prince Edward Island, respectively, with all other provinces forecasting 3.3% to 3.5%.
• The highest projected average salary increase by industry is expected to be in Real Estate (4.2%).
Healthcare (2.8%) and Education (2.9%), even with projected freezes removed, reported the lowest projected salary increases.

Benchmarking and job descriptions are a priority for 2025

When asked about their top HR initiatives for 2025, the majority of respondents indicated that current job descriptions and salary benchmarking were key priorities.

The top HR initiatives reported include:

• Having up-to-date job descriptions (56.1%)
• Participating in salary benchmark surveys (55.4%)
• Enhancing total rewards strategies to be more well-rounded, flexible and employee-centric (46.6%)
• Conducting and/or producing more resources and education training on compensation for people leaders (36.3%)
• Adopting a new or enhanced compensation management system or HRIS (31.5%)
• Conducting a pay equity analysis (30.6%)

Increased scrutiny around pay transparency, pay equity legislation, and reporting are forcing employers to take greater accountability towards providing effective communication awareness and education around internal compensation programs.

Eckler's Compensation Planning Survey was conducted from June to August 2024 and collected responses from over 500 Canadian organizations across diverse sectors and industries. The survey results provide critical data on salary, pay administration practices, market trends, and human resource priorities.

SOURCE: Eckler Ltd.

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