The work world has undergone substantial changes so far in 2025, but one thing could prove steady and that’s keeping merit increases around 3.3% for non-unionized employees. This information came from a report from Mercer saying merit increases will likely remain despite a softening job market.
The desire to continue employee investment is finding employers looking to increase total salary budgets, including budget for salary adjustments and promotions. Adjustments to reach equity could reach 3.7% for non-unionized employees, showing employers are prioritizing an investment in talent, according to Jack Jones, principal consultant, Mercer.
This could also result in seeing a slight increase in the number of employees who will receive a promotion, up 9.3% from 8% in 2024. These first-quarter projects have the potential to change with the finalization of budgets for the year, but initial projections are likely to remain positive.
Mercer found employees working in tech may see slightly better results than workers outside of the tech industry. Merit raises were expected to reach 3.5% with total compensation projected to achieve 3.8% with ongoing high demand for these skills. Although healthcare workers stay in high demand, these employees are not expected to see compensation reach similar levels to those in tech. Instead, healthcare workers could see a 3% merit increase with total compensation around 3.5%. This lower increase was attributed to the rising costs of drugs and equipment, according to Mercer.
Such news also dovetails with ongoing calls for greater transparency in pay with demand coming from both employees and job seekers. Mercer found only around 18% of companies currently share pay ranges with employees and job candidates. With calls for equity on the rise, 52% of companies are looking at conducting investigations into pay equity.
Taking the step toward greater pay equity is becoming more important as it is mandated by legislation, along with a growing expectation for transparency among employees and job seekers. This degree of transparency is beneficial as workplaces need to run with greater levels of agility than ever before. “As more and more employers do it, it’s almost a competitive advantage for them, and those employers that are not are missing out on some of the talent,” Jones concluded.
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